FORE    AND    AFT 


FORE  AND  AFT 

THE  STORY  OF  THE  FORE  &  AFT  RIG 

FROM  THE  EARLIEST  TIMES  TO 

THE  PRESENT  DAY 


BY 


E.  KEBLE  CHATTERTON 

AUTHOR   OF 

"SAILING  SHIPS  &"  THEIR   STORY,"    "THE   ROMANCE  OF   THE   SHIP," 

'STEAMSHIPS   dr"  THEIR    STORY,"    "DOWN   CHANNEL  IN   THE    '  VIVETTE, 

"THE   STORY  OF   THE  BRITISH   NAVY" 

&'C.    b'C. 


WITH  OVER  150  ILLUSTRATIONS  &'  PLANS 


PHILADELPHIA 
J.    B.    LIPPINCOTT    COMPANY 

LONDON :  SEELEY,  SERVICE  ^  CO.  LTD. 
1912 


Printed  by  Ballanttne,  Hanson  <5r>  Co. 
At  the  Ballantyne  Press,  Edinburgh 


TO 

THE  MEN  OF 

THE  FORE-AND-AFT  RIG, 

YACHTSMEN,  PILOTS,  FISHERMEN,  COASTERS, 

I   DEDICATE 

THESE     PAGES 


207559 


PREFACE 

THE  fore-and-aft  rig,  though  of  much  later  origin  than  that 
of  the  square-sail,  is  far  more  varied  in  its  developments. 
If  we  reckon  by  actual  numbers  we  shall  find  that  to-day,  while 
the  square-rigged  ship  is  gradually  becoming  rarer  and  rarer, 
yet  the  fore-and-after  still  continues  to  thrive,  to  multiply  and 
to  improve  in  every  way — in  design  of  hull  no  less  than  in 
details  of  gear. 

It  is,  therefore,  only  fit  and  proper  that  the  history  of  the 
fore-and-aft  type  of  vessel  should  follow  that  of  her  older 
sister,  and  the  following  pages  will  show  that  her  story  is  full 
of  interest  and  fascination.  So  much  confusion  and  error  exist 
among  sailing-men  in  regard  to  the  place  or  manner  of  the 
origin  and  evolution  of  their  craft  that  it  is  well  that  the  facts 
should  be  set  right  at  once.  As  to  the  methods  of  investigation 
which  have  been  employed  in  collecting  the  material  for  this 
book,  the  ensuing  pages  will  explain. 

Additional  to  my  own  independent  research,  I  have  laid 
myself  under  obligation  to  that  of  various  other  writers,  and 
especially  I  desire  to  mention  the  following : —  Pritchett's 
Sketches  of  Shipping  and  Crafty  Warington  Smyth's  Mast  and 
Sail,  Clark's  History/  of  Yachting,  Chapman's  Architectura 
Navalis,  Cooke's  Shipping  and  Craft,  Charnock's  History  of 
Marine  Architecture,  Hulsius's  Voyages,  Tanner's  Descriptive 
Catalogue  of  the  Naval  MSS.  in  the  Pepysian  Library,  Pepys' 
Diary,  Evelyn's  Diary,  the  two  volumes  on  Yachting  in  the 
Badminton  Library,  Leslie's  Old  Sea  Wings,  Guest's  History 
of  the  Royal  Yacht  Squadron,  articles  by  Heckstall  Smith  in 
the  new  edition  of  the  Encyclopcedia  Britannica  and  Lloyd's 
Calendar.  I  am  also  indebted  for  certain  details  to  the 
Yachting  Monthly. 


10  PREFACE 

1  wish  to  return  thanks  for  the  assistance  rendered  me  in 
various  galleries  and  museums  both  in  England  and  Holland 
during  my  investigations,  and  have  also  to  express  my  gratitude 
to  the  following  gentlemen,  who  so  kindly  placed  various 
designs  and  photographs  at  my  disposal : — Mr.  Walter  Wood 
for  permission  to  reproduce  the  photographs  of  the  Yorkshire 
cobble,  the  Thames  bawleys,  the  Scarborough  fishing-ketch,  and 
the  Galician  lateener;  to  Mr.  Norman  S.  Carr  (who  has  made 
many  of  the  sketches)  for  the  photographs  of  the  Cornish 
fishing  craft,  the  Ostend  fishing-smack,  the  reefing-gear  of  the 
Bristol  Channel  pilot-cutter,  the  Isle  of  Marken  botters,  the 
smaller  photograph  of  the  hoogarts  fishing  fleet,  and  the  modern 
boier  yachts;  to  Mr.  Harold  Clayton  for  the  designs  of  the 
Bristol  Channel  pilot-cutter  Faith ;  to  Mr.  C.  Devereux  Marshall 
for  the  photograph  of  Maud;  to  Mr.  Albert  Strange  for  the 
designs  of  the  Seal,  Sheila  II.,  Cherub  III.,  and  Norma; 
to  Mr.  Colin  Archer  for  the  designs  of  the  Norwegian  rednings- 
koite,  the  photographs  of  the  Norwegian  pilot-cutter  and  of  the 
Frani;  to  M.  G.  Soe  for  certain  information  connected  with, 
and  the  plans  of,  the  Frederikshaven  fishing-boat,  the  Belgian 
lugger,  the  Dunkirk  fishing-ketch,  the  Gravelines  lugger,  the 
Boulogne  herring-drifter,  the  chasse-maree  of  St.  Malo,  the 
Equihen  lugger,  the  sardine  luggers  of  Brittany  and  of  the  Ven- 
dee, the  Newfoundland  barquentine,  the  Breton  fishing-schooner, 
and  the  Marseilles  pilot  craft. 

It  may  be  added  that  since  the  following  pages  were  written 
another  cruise  has  been  undertaken  through  the  Netherlands, 
and  further  opportunities  have  been  taken  advantage  of  in  order 
to  confirm  previous  impressions  and  deductions  regarding  local 
craft. 

E.  KEBLE  CHATTERTON. 
August  1911. 


CONTENTS 


CHAP,  PAGE 

I.     Introduction  17 

II.     The  Origin  of  the  Fore-and-Aft  Rig  27 

III.  Origin     of     the     Fore-and-Aft     Rig     in     Northern 

Europe  44 

IV.  The    Development     of     the    Fore-and-Aft    Rig     in 

Holland  88 

V.     The  Introduction  of  Yachts  into  England  128 

VI.     The   Influence  of  Holland  on  the  Development  of 

THE  Fore-and-Aft  Rig  161 

VII.     The  Fore-and-Aft  Rig  to-day  in  Great  Britain  and 

America  219 

VIII.     The     Modern     Fore-and-Aft     Rig     in     Scandinavia, 

Holland,   Belgium,   France,  and  Southern  Europe     277 


11 


ILLUSTRATIONS  AND   PLANS 

First  English-built  Yacht,  the  second  Mary         Frontispiece 

PASB 

1.  Italian  Harbour,  with  Lateener  34 

2.  Mediterranean  Tartana  35 

3.  Scheveningen  Herring-Buss  51 

4.  Seventeenth  Century  Herring-Busses  54 

5.  Dutch  Buss-ships  56 

6.  Dutch  Galley  58 

7.  An  Early  Sixteenth  Century  Fore-and-After  59 

8.  Fore-and-Afters  64 

9.  The  Dutch  Polar  Expedition  64 

10.  A  Galley  and  other  Fore-and-Afters  in  the  Port  of 

Amsterdam  70 

11.  Dutch  Sloops  74 

12.  The  Origin  of  the  Schooner  (First  Stage)  76 

13.  The  Origin  of  the  Schooner  (Second  Stage)  78 

14.  Dutch  Market  Barge  82 

15.  A  Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  River  Scene  84 

16.  Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  Sloops  92 

17.  A  Dutch  Yacht  and  other  Craft  94 

18.  Dutch  Shipping  96 

19.  A  Dutch  Boier  and  other  Craft  102 

20.  A  Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  Sloop  104 

21.  Dutch  Admiralty  Yacht  106 

12 


ILLUSTKATIONS   AND   PLANS  13 


PAGB 


22.  Seventeenth  Century  Dutch  Galleot  108 

23.  Nineteenth  Century  Dutch  Galleots  110 

24.  View  of  the  Maas  112 

25.  Kof-Tjalk  112 

26.  Sail-plan  of  Kof-Tjalk  113 

27.  Enkhuizen  Beurtman  114 

28.  Paviljoen-Pom  117 

29.  Dutch  Cutter  120 

30.  The  Yacht  in  which  Charles  II.  sailed  131 

31.  Semale  Ship  134 

32.  Yorkshire  Billy-Boy  134 

33.  The  English  Yacht,  the  second  Mary  154 

34.  Some  of  Charles  II.'s  Yachts  154 

35.  Eighteenth  Century  Dutch  Hoeker-Yacht  165 

36.  Nineteenth  Century  Dutch  Craft  168 

37.  Eighteenth  Century  Craft  174 

38.  Fore-and-Afters  of  the  Thames  176 

39.  Dutch  Schuyt  178 

40.  Hatch-boat  in  Gravesend  Reach  178 

41.  English  Revenue-Cutter  182 

42.  Dutch  Revenue-Cutter  184 

43.  Lines  of  a  Cutter  of  the  Year  1781  186 

44.  Design  for  a  Yacht  186 

45.  A  British  Sloop-of-War  190 

46.  Scotch  Trading  Smacks  192 

47.  Fishing  Smack  196 

48.  Cutter  entering  Littlehampton  Harbour  196 

49.  Early  Nineteenth  Century  Topsail  Schooner  204 

50.  A  Yarmouth  Yawl  204 


14  ILLUSTRATIONS   AND  PLANS 


PA08 


51.  The  Yacht  Jullanar  210 

52.  Brighton  Mackerel  Craft  220 

53.  Brighton  Hoggies  222 

54.  Scarborough  "  Mule  "  222 

55.  Old  Yarmouth  Cobble  226 
5Q.  Scarborough  Ketch  226 

57.  The  Thames  Bawley  230 

58.  The  Thames  Bawley  230 

59.  Sloop-rigged  Barges  236 

60.  Old  Thames  Barge  with  Square-sails  238 

61.  Cowes  Ketch  238 

62.  Cornish  Fishing  Craft  240 

63.  Reefing-gear  of  Bristol  Channel  Pilot  Craft  240 

64.  Internal  Accommodation  and  Deck-plan  of  the  Bristol 

Channel  Pilot-Cutter  Faith  241 

65.  Bristol  Channel  Pilot-Cutter  243 

66.  Lines  of  Bristol  Channel  Pilot-Cutter  Faith  248 

67.  Sail-plan  of  Bristol  Channel  Pilot-Cutter  Faith  249 

68.  The  Britannia  252 

69.  The  Maiid  252 

70.  Sail-plan  of  the  Seal  253 

71.  The  Outlook  256 

72.  Accommodation  and  Deck-plan  of  the  Seal  257 
72-A.  Lines  of  the  10-ton  Yacht  Seal  269 

73.  American  Cat-boat  262 

74.  The  Westward  264 

75.  Sailing  Lifeboat  266 

76.  Norwegian  Pilot-Cutter  266 

77.  Details  of  the  Seal  and  her  Dinghy  267 


ILLUSTRATIONS   AND   PLANS  15 


PAGE 


78.  Sail-plan  of  Sheila  II.  270 

79.  Plan  of  Cabin  and  Construction  of  Sheila  II.  271 

80.  Lines  of  Sheila  II.  273 

81.  Sail-plan  of  Chenib  III.  275 

82.  Lines  of  CheTub  III.  274 

83.  Sail-plan  of  Norma  275 

84.  Lines  of  Norma  278 

85.  Accommodation  Plans  of  Norma  279 

86.  The  Fram  280 

87.  Accommodation  Plans  of  Cherub  III.  281 

88.  Frederikshaven  Fishing-boat  283 

89.  Sail-plan  of  Norwegian  Lifeboat  288 

90.  Dutch  Tjalks  290 

91.  A  Smaller  Dutch  Tjalk  290 

92.  Lines  of  Norwegian  Lifeboat  291 

93.  Dutch  Klipper  293 

94.  Dutch  Botters  295 

95.  Isle  of  Marken  Botters  296 

96.  Hoogarts  Fishing  Fleet  296 

97.  Accommodation  Plans  of  Norwegian  Lifeboat  297 

98.  Dutch  Schokkers  297 

99.  Flushing  Harbour,  with  Fleet  of  Hoogarts  298 

100.  Hoogarts  of  Walcheren  299 

101.  Dutch  Boier  302 

102.  Ostend  Fishing  Smack  302 

103.  Modern  Boier  Yachts  302 

104.  Lines  of  Belgian  Lugger  303 

105.  Zuyder  Zee  Kub-boats  303 

106.  Modern  Dutch  Una-rig  305 


16  ILLUSTRATIONS    AND   PLANS 


PAGE 


107.  Scheveningen  Pink  307 

108.  Katwijk-Pom  309 

109.  Sail-plan  of  Belgian  Lugger  311 

110.  Lines  of  Gravelines  Lugger  312 

111.  Lines  of  Dunkirk  Fishing  Ketch  313 

112.  Dunkirk  Fishing  Ketch  313 

113.  Gravelines  Lugger  314 

114.  Sail-plan  of  Boulogne  Herring  Drifter  314 

115.  Lines  of  Boulogne  Herring  Drifter  315 

116.  Chasse-Maree  of  St.  Malo  316 

117.  Lines  of  St.  Malo  Chasse-Maree  317 

118.  Fishing  Lugger  of  Equihen  318 

119.  Lines  of  Equihen  Fishing  Lugger  319 

120.  Sardine  Fishing  Lugger  of  the  Coast  of  Brittany  321 

121.  Sardine  Lugger  of  the  Vendee  322 

122.  Lines  of  Sardine  Lugger  of  the  Vendee  323 

123.  Barquentine  of  St.  Malo  325 

124.  Breton  Fishing  Schooner  327 

125.  Egyptian  Dahabeiah  326 

126.  Lines  of  St.  Malo  Barquentine  327 

127.  Galician  Sardine  Boat  328 

128.  Lines  of  Breton  Fishing  Schooner  329 

129.  Sail-plan  of  Marseilles  Pilot-boat  330 

130.  Lines  of  Marseilles  Pilot-boat  331 


FORE    AND    AFT 

CHAPTER    I 

INTRODUCTION 

THE  appearance  of  this  present  volume  fulfils  a 
promise  which  was  made  a  couple  of  years  ago. 
In  the  last  chapter  of  my  Sailing  Ships  and  their 
Stoi'if  the  reader  may  remember  tliat  I  remarked  that 
"  it  would  be  quite  impossible  here  to  trace  in  such 
complete  detail  the  history  and  development  of  the 
fore-and-afters  as  we  have  done  of  the  larger  sailing 
ships ;  that,  indeed,  demands  a  separate  volume  to 
itself."  It  is  now  proposed  within  the  compass  of 
the  following  pages  to  attempt  to  perform  on  behalf 
of  the  fore-and-afters  that  which  I  essayed  to  do 
for  the  full-rigged  ship  and  her  near  relatives.  For 
such  a  task  needs  the  scope  of  more  than  a  few 
pages  in  order  that  full  justice  may  be  done  to 
the  subject.  In  the  previous  volume  the  merest 
outline  had  to  suffice  for  the  reader's  interest,  for 
in  covering  so  large  an  area  as  the  history  of  every 
kind  of  sailing-ship  that  had  evolved  during  a 
period  of  six  thousand  years  there  remained  to  me 
little  enough  opportunity  of  dealing  adequately  with 
that  rig  which  to-day  exists  in  far  greater  numbers 
than  the  square-sail  rig. 

Whilst  it  is  true  that  the  steamship  and  motor- 
propelled  vessels   are  increasing    as  the  square-rigged 
ship   is   disappearing,   the    fore-and-aft    is    the    only* 
kind  of  sailing  craft  that  continues  to  multiply,  and 


18  INTRODUCTION 

that  irrespective  altogether  of  what  the  motor  or 
steam-engine  may  be  doing.  For  to  the  fisherman,  , 
the  pilot,  the  yachtsman,  and  to  many  a  coaster 
and  inland  trader  the  fore-and-after  belongs  exclusively. 
Sometimes  she  is  nowadays  fitted  with  an  auxiliary 
motor  engine,  but  oftener  she  is  without  so  useful 
an  accessory.  The  important  fact  remains  that  if 
you  were  to  count  up  all  the  sailing  craft  of  the 
world  you  would  find  that  an  overwhelming  pro- 
portion of  these  are  rigged  fore-and-aft  fashion  and 
do  not  carry  even  so  much  as  one  square-sail  to  set 
when  running  free. 

That  being  so,  it  is  but  fair  that  the  origin  and 
evolution  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  should  have  its  full 
meed  of  consideration ;  and  it  is  hoped  that  the 
following  pages  may  be  not  less  interesting  to  the 
lover  of  ships  and  the  sea  than  were  the  chapters  on 
the  history  of  the  larger  kind  of  sailing-ship  designed 
not  for  coasting  or  inland  waters  but  for  traversing 
the  vast  expanse  of  the  ocean. 

It  is  permissible  to  emphasise  at  the  outset  more 
particularly  the  aim  which  has  here  been  in  view  and 
the  method  which  has  been  employed.  This  volume 
is  neither  an  attempt  to  record  the  peculiarities  of 
every  conceivable  kind  of  sailing  craft  in  all  the 
corners  of  the  four  continents,  nor  is  it  a  mere  history 
of  yachting.  What  has  been  aimed  at  has  been, 
firstly,  to  find  out,  as  far  as  the  most  patient  and 
extensive  historical  research  will  permit,  the  actual 
beginnings  of  the  rig,  and  then  to  show  in  chrono- 
logical order  the  general  manner  in  which  during  the 
ensuing  centuries  this  went  on  developing,  and  how 
it  became  modified  to  suit  particular  and  local  pur- 
poses, but  with  especial  regard  to  the  manner  in  which 
it  has  been  employed  over  the  seas  of  northern 
Europe. 

For  years  the  desire  to  get  at  the  heart  of  this 
matter  has  haunted  me,  and  it  is  only  after  the  most 


INTRODUCTION  19 

diligent  research  among  existing  records  and  the 
examination  of  pictorial  representations  by  contem- 
porary craftsmen,  after  following  up  all  sorts  of 
clues  in  the  most  out-of-the-way  places,  and,  finally, 
after  studying  practically  every  printed  book  on  a 
marine  subject  from  the  first  days  of  printing  to  the 
present  day,  to  say  nothing  of  innumerable  manu- 
scripts, prints,  and  so  on,  that  at  last  it  was  possible 
to  piece  together  the  scattered  fragments  into  one 
coherent  whole.  This  was  preceded  by  a  familiarity 
of  handling  fore-and-aft  rigged  vessels,  an  experience 
that  began  in  boyhood  and  still  continues.  But  in 
order  to  leave  no  loophole  for  error,  after  the  libraries, 
museums,  and  art  galleries  of  England  had  been 
ransacked,  and  its  various  kinds  of  fore-and-aft 
rigged  craft  studied,  the  same  experience  was  gone 
through  in  that  foreign  country  which  saw  the  origin 
and  the  earliest  developments  of  the  rig.  We  must 
recollect  that  about  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century 
the  Netherlands  were  becoming  wonderfully  wealthy 
and  powerful  on  the  sea.  Thus  during  the  next 
century  they  were  the  great  ocean-carriers,  the 
"  waggoners  of  the  sea,"  as  they  were  called.  Thus 
followed  also  those  three  great  Anglo-Dutch  naval 
wars.  Living  so  close  to  the  North  Sea,  having 
always  to  fight  for  the  security  of  their  land  against 
the  encroachment  of  the  waves,  intersected  with 
innumerable  canals  and  waterways,  with  the  mighty 
Scheldt  and  Maas  rivers  running  through  their  midst, 
with  the  expansive  Zuyder  Zee  on  one  side  of  the 
land  and  the  still  vaster  North  Sea  on  the  other, 
it  would  have  been  surprising  had  not  the  Dutch 
become  sailor-men.  And  when  in  addition  they 
became  colonists  and  obtained  valuable  interests  in 
India,  Java,  and  America,  a  still  keener  interest  in 
shipping  and  its  manifold  details  became  essential. 
It  was  primarily  owing  to  the  shallowness  and  the 
narrowness  of  her  national  waterways,  to  the  absence 


20  INTRODUCTION 

of  good  roads  for  carrying  traffic,  that  the  fore-and- 
aft  rig  developed  so  wondrously  in  Holland.  The 
happy  combination  of  an  ancient  sea-instinct,  to- 
gether with  that  potent  cause  of  invention — neces- 
sity— brought  about  in  the  Low  Countries  the  origin 
of  the  yacht,  the  fishing-smack,  and  the  familiar  pilot- 
boat. 

Therefore,  in  order  to  supplement  the  many  data 
which  England  afforded,  a  lengthy  visit  was  paid  to 
Holland ;  and  that  this  might  be  done  thoroughly 
from  one  end  to  the  other,  it  was  undertaken  in  the 
only  manner  in  which  such  an  investigation  can  rightly 
be  made.  It  was  not  to  be  a  land  voyage,  but  by  sea 
and  river  and  canal.  Starting  out  in  a  little  fore-and- 
aft  rigged  yacht  of  from  four  to  five  tons  from  South- 
ampton Water,  with  a  crew  of  two  all-told,  consisting 
of  the  writer  and  the  artist  who  has  made  many  of 
the  illustrations  in  this  book,  the  English  shore  was 
followed  to  the  eastward.  After  putting  in  at  New- 
haven  and  Ramsgate,  a  course  was  set  for  Calais  ;  from 
there  sailing  along  the  French  and  Belgian  coasts  to 
Ostend,  to  the  new  port  of  Zeebrugge,  and  across  the 
wide  estuary  of  the  Scheldt  to  the  Dutch  port  of 
Flushing,  in  the  island  of  Walcheren.  Thence  still 
pursuing  our  way  northwards,  sometimes  by  canal, 
sometimes  along  the  bold  tidal  rivers  bearing  their 
heavy  traffic,  consisting  of  every  species  of  fore-and- 
aft  rig,  we  eventually  arrived  at  Amsterdam  and  the 
Zuyder  Zee.  With  the  details  of  so  interesting  a 
cruise  one  need  not  weary  the  reader :  perhaps  he  may 
have  the  opportunity  of  reading  the  account  in  another 
volume  at  some  other  date.  Everywhere  pencil  and 
camera  were  employed  to  gather  in  from  passing  craft 
the  most  fascinating  data  connected  with  the  Dutch 
craft.  Ashore  the  various  ports  and  havens  were 
scrutinised  so  as  to  study  the  rig  of  these  sailing 
vessels,  and  their  skippers  and  crews  were  asked  to 
supplement  what  was  not  immediately  manifest.     For 


INTRODUCTION  21 

weeks  and  weeks  we  sailed  in  their  company ;  we  saw 
how  they  employed  devices  unknown  to  our  own  sea- 
men ;  we  noted  them  in  fair  weather  and  foul ; 
observed  them  tide-cheating,  "  trekking,"  or  running 
in  and  out  of  crowded  locks  with  that  dexterity  which 
is  peculiar  to  the  Dutch  sailor-man.  We  went  on 
board  them  and  examined  their  gear,  talked  with 
the  men  who  built  them,  wandered  in  and  out  of  their 
shipbuilding  yards,  gathered  scraps  of  information, 
now  from  the  skipper  of  a  paviljoen-pom,  now  from 
a  haven-meester,  a  yachtsman,  or  an  antiquary. 

But  besides  all  this  Ave  endeavoured  to  ransack 
also  every  picture,  print,  book,  or  other  evidence  in 
every  museum,  library,  and  picture  gallery  which  the 
various  inland  and  sea-ports  contained  and  were  likely 
to  throw  an  illuminating  light  on  the  origin  and 
history  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig.  In  short,  the  most 
meticulous  care  was  expended,  regardless  of  time  or 
expense,  so  that  at  last  a  satisfactory  and  reliable 
investigation  might  have  been  made.  Armed  with 
this  knowledge,  still  further  researches  were  under- 
taken afterwards  in  England,  with  fortunate  success 
to  crown  one's  efforts.  Whatever  value  all  this  ex- 
penditure of  time,  labour,  and  travel  may  possess,  is  to 
be  found  in  the  following  pages.  It  was  essential  that 
the  journey  of  inquiry  should  have  been  undertaken  in 
this  manner,  for  many  of  the  most  interesting  sources 
of  information  were  right  off  the  tourist  track  and, 
because  of  their  island  situation,  inaccessible  except  by 
water.  It  was  further  impossible,  also,  to  get  an  ade- 
quate idea  of  the  Dutch  craft  (which  of  all  kinds  of 
ships  have  altered  least  from  their  origin  centuries  ago 
to  the  present  day)  except  by  sailing  in  their  company 
day  after  day,  mile  after  mile.  But  all  this  was  only 
part  of  the  whole  scheme  which  aimed  at  settling  once 
and  for  all  some  of  the  wrong  impressions  which  exist 
regarding  the  history  of  the  particular  class  of  vessel 
to  which  we  are  devoting  our  attention. 


22  INTRODUCTION 

On  another  page  the  Enghsh-built  Mary  the 
second  will  be  found  reproduced  exactly  as  she  was 
sketched  under  way  by  a  contemporary  artist  of  her 
owner,  Charles  II. ;  whilst  the  striking  frontispiece  to 
this  book  represents  an  attempt  to  bring  her  to  life 
again,  and  to  fire  the  reader's  imagination  so  that 
he  may  see  her  as  she  appeared  in  the  seventeenth 
century  with  her  royal  owner  on  board.  This  has 
been  done  by  one  of  the  ablest  of  our  modern  marine 
artists,  Mr.  Charles  Dixon,  working  from  existing  his- 
torical details  which  may  be  regarded  as  absolutely 
authentic. 

The  first  Marjj  (to  which  the  second  English-built 
Mary  bore  resemblance)  represents  a  landmark  in  the 
history  of  all  British  shipping,  and  is  especially  of 
interest  to  yachtsmen  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  for  she 
introduced  an  altogether  novel  type  of  craft  to  our 
country,  and  set  going  the  beginnings  of  the  entirely 
new  sport  of  yachting,  a  sport  that  is  happily  now 
spreading  not  merely  throughout  the  British  Isles,  but 
to  all  sea-girt  civilised  countries  of  the  world.  Since  it 
is  to  Britain  secondly,  and  primarily  to  Holland,  that 
this  sport  is  due,  we  cannot  exaggerate  the  import- 
ance which  this  vessel  bears  in  regard  to  historical 
progress. 

But  although  necessarily  in  this  volume  the  pride 
of  place  belongs  to  Holland  and  Britain,  yet  it  is  not 
exclusively  to  these  countries  that  the  fore-and-after 
belongs,  as  many  of  the  illustrations  will  show.  The 
North  Sea,  the  Baltic,  and  the  English  Channel  will 
ever  be  associated  with  this  rig  especially.  For  these 
waters  where  harbours  are  many,  whose  narrow,  and 
frequently  difficult,  entrances  need  handiness  in  the 
sailing-ship,  there  is  nothing  so  suitable  as  the  rig  we 
are  discussing.  That  is  the  especial  claim  which  such 
craft  possess  :  that  is  the  reason  why  they  have  received 
so  much  encouragement.  Plenty  of  fore-and-aft  craft 
have  crossed  the  Atlantic,  and  some  have  even  voyaged 


INTRODUCTION  23 

to  Africa,  India,  Australia,  and  elsewhere.  But  such 
voyages  are  not  so  suited  to  these  craft  as  for  the  full- 
rigged  ship  with  her  boomless  square-sails  and  manifold 
conveniences  for  diminishing  that  injurious  chafing 
which  comes  from  the  continuous  rolling  during  a 
protracted  cruise  over  the  waves  of  the  ocean.  Able 
to  go  through  weather  which  many  a  fore-and-after 
could  not  look  at,  majestic  and  lovely  as  the  full- 
rigged  ships  are  to  the  eye,  yet  handy  they  are  not, 
and  they  are  ill-suited  for  the  special  work  of  the  cutter 
or  yawl,  a  large  part  of  whose  time  is  spent  dodging  in 
and  out  of  harbours  or  turning  to  windward  in  confined 
channels.  A  square-rigged  ship,  for  instance,  would  be 
as  absurd  on  Dutch  waterways  as  a  hotter  or  hoogarts 
would  look  trying  to  cross  the  Atlantic.  It  is,  how- 
ever, essential  to  bear  in  mind  that  in  the  world's  vast 
scheme  of  division  of  labour  there  is  a  necessity  for 
both  forms  of  craft. 

After  we  have  shown,  then,  the  important  debt 
which  the  fore-and-aft  rig  owes  to  Holland,  we  shall 
proceed  to  see  how  this  rig  took  root  in  England,  and 
thence  we  shall  be  able  to  witness  it  developing  not 
merely  in  the  yacht,  but  in  the  Revenue-cutter  and  the 
fishing-smack,  and  the  vessels  of  the  sixteenth,  seven- 
teenth, eighteenth,  nineteenth,  and  twentieth  centuries. 
Yawls,  sloops,  cutters,  lifeboats,  boms,  catboats,  pinks, 
klipper-aaks,  boiers,  schokkers,  botters,  hoogarts,  tjalks, 
kubboats,  fishing  craft,  pilot  craft,  market  barges, 
cargo-carriers,  Admiralty  sailing  craft,  hoekers,  galleots,' 
Dutch,  English,  French,  Belgian,  Danish,  Swedish,  and 
Norwegian  craft,  Yorkshire  cobbles,  and  Mediterranean 
lateeners,  whale-boats  and  motor-schooners — all  these 
we  shall  investigate  for  the  purpose  of  witnessing  the 
manner  in  which  the  rig  has  developed.  And  in  ad- 
dressing myself  to  that  same  appreciative  public  who 
were  kind  enough  to  welcome  Sailing  Skips  and  their 
Stoi'y,  I  am  in  hopes  that  they  may  find  once  more 
that  an  increased  familiarity  with  the  evolution  of  the 


24  INTRODUCTION 

craft  which  we  all  love  so  well  may  have  the  reverse 
effect  of  that  spirit  which  breeds  contempt  through 
closer  association.  To  me  personally  the  joy  and 
delight  of  voyaging  in  any  kind  of  sailing  vessel  is 
intensified  a  thousandfold  if  I  am  able  to  know  her 
ancestry,  and  I  cannot  think  that  it  is  otherwise 
with  my  brother  sailing- men,  whether  professional  or 
amateur. 

Two  of  the  most  romantic  considerations  in  the 
world  are  found  in  history  and  the  ship  :  so  that  when 
these  two  are  united  we  have  afforded  a  subject  that  is 
magnetic  in  its  power  to  attract.  The  man  who  is 
genuinely  fond  of  ships  aspires  to  know  more  about 
them.  He  is  not  content  to  rest  satisfied  with  the 
knowledge  as  to  the  way  they  are  handled :  he  wants 
to  know  something  of  what  may  be  termed  the  philo- 
sophy of  the  ship.  He  longs  to  get  right  back  to  first 
ship-principles,  and  to  ascertain  the  forces  that  have 
been  at  work  to  model,  if  not  the  ocean-carrier,  at  any 
rate  the  smaller  type  of  craft  in  which  he  has  sailed  for 
so  long  a  time.  He  is  anxious  to  know  what  sort  of 
craft  were  those  prototypes,  how  they  were  rigged, 
whether  they  could  get  to  windward,  what  they  looked 
like  under  way,  and  so  on.  It  is  to  such  inquiries  as 
these  that  this  volume  comes  with  a  desire  to  give 
answer.  Even  to  the  man  who  does  not  put  to  sea 
in  his  own  craft,  but  for  all  that  has  an  affection  for 
the  things  of  the  sea,  perhaps  it  may  not  be  unwelcome 
to  learn  how  the  little  sailing  vessel  which  he  sees 
bobbing  up  and  down  in  the  bay  can  trace  her  pedigree 
back  through  the  ages  of  the  bluff-bowed  sloops,  and 
even  to  the  sixteenth-century  Dutchmen. 

Surely  it  can  be  no  lost  labour  to  foster  an  in- 
terest in — even  a  real  love  for — ships  of  any  kind. 
There  is  nothing  healthier  both  for  mind  and  body, 
there  is  no  pastime,  no  form  of  recreation  which  is  at 
once  so  instructive  and   so  beneficial  to  character  as 


INTRODUCTION  25 

tlie  sport  of  ships.  The  more  you  learn  about  them  the 
more  you  become  appalled  at  your  own  ignorance,  and 
so  proportionately  you  press  on  to  get  acquainted  with 
the  things  that  you  long  to  know.  Added  to  this  must 
be  borne  in  mind  the  fact  that  we  are  an  island  race, 
and  that  it  is  a  matter  of  honour  that  we  should  hand 
on  the  great  sea-tradition  to  posterity,  and  not  suffer  it 
to  die  out  in  an  age  of  excessive  comfort  and  luxury. 
JMany  people  are  tied  to  town  life  by  the  claims  of  their 
daily  work,  gladly  though  they  would,  if  tliey  could, 
rush  off  for  the  greater  part  of  the  year  to  go  wandering 
round  the  coast  in  some  sort  of  vessel.  But  next  to 
such  a  possibility  the  best  means  of  keeping  up  an 
interest  in  seafaring  matters  consists  in  reading  about 
them,  so  that  the  imagination  is  fired  and  the  progress 
of  maritime  matters  is  not  allowed  to  be  regarded  as 
something  that  does  not  matter,  something  belonging 
to  other  people's  business,  but  becomes  a  personal 
matter  and  one  in  which  all  who  are  proud  of  the 
name  British  feel  deeply  concerned. 

It  has  been  well  said  that  in  these  days  of  mechani- 
cal propulsion  the  only  educated  sailors  who  still  exist 
are  yachtsmen,  and  it  is  with  a  desire  of  interesting 
them  and  their  younger  brothers  that  I  have  written 
the  following  pages.  For  in  the  matter  of  ships  there 
is  a  common  meeting  -  ground  for  enthusiasts  irre- 
spective of  ages.  We  need  not  bring  up  that  old 
dictum  about  Waterloo  and  the  playing  fields  of  Eton, 
but  many  an  embryonic  admiral  has  learnt  some  of  his 
first  and  most  valuable  sea  lessons  from  an  acquaint- 
ance made  with  small  sailing  craft.  Prior  to  that  some 
stirring  sea-picture  or  sea- story  had  captivated  his 
imagination  and  sent  his  thoughts  to  work  in  a  new 
world.  To-day  there  is  so  little  in  common  between 
the  ships  of  war  and  the  ships  of  pleasure  that  it  is 
useless  to  attempt  a  comparison,  but  what  is  possible 
is  to  capture  that  enthusiasm  by  means  of  the  printed 


26  INTRODUCTION 

book  and  spirited  illustration,  an  enthusiasm  which, 
after  it  is  once  infused,  never  dies,  but  is  presently  led 
into  one  of  the  three  channels  of  the  navy,  the  mer- 
chant marine,  or  the  sport  of  yachting. 

It  is  hoped  that  these  pages  may  do  something  to 
inspire  such  an  enthusiasm  or  to  invigorate  it  where  it 
already  exists. 


CHAPTER   II 

THE    ORIGIN    OF    THE    FORE-AND-AFT    RIG 

IF  we  were  to  examine  all  the  different  rigs  of  the 
different  ships  of  the  world,  of  whatsoever  size  and 
nationality,  we  should  find  that  they  divide  themselves 
broadly  into  two  separate  classes.  Firstly,  there  are- 
the  ships  which  are  with  yards  and  rectangular  canvas,  or, 
as  we  should  say,  with  square-sails;  and  secondly,  there 
are  those,  usually  smaller  craft,  which  are  rigged  fore- 
and-aft  wise.  That  is  to  say,  instead  of  having  their 
sails  set  athwart  the  mast  they  are  affixed  longitudin- 
ally, in  line  with  the  keel. 

To  the  former  class  belong  of  course  the  full-rigged 
ships  and  barques.  To  the  latter  belong  the  sloops, 
cutters,  ketches,  yawls,  and  luggers  of  the  coasting 
trader,  the  fisherman,  the  pilots,  and  the  yachts.  And  of 
course  there  are,  as  in  other  spheres  of  activity,  certain 
compromises  between  the  two  distinct  classes.  The 
topsail  schooner,  for  example,  is,  strictly  speaking, 
neither  a  square-rigged  ship  nor  a  fore-and-after,  but 
possesses  features  akin  to  both.  '  So,  in  like  manner, 
might  we  affirm  of  the  barquentine  and  brigantine.  In 
the  history  of  sailing  rigs  the  square-sail  comes  first. 
It  was  the  original  form  of  the  sail-plan  adopted  by 
the  Egyptians,  the  Phcenicians,  the  Greeks,  and  the 
Romans ;  it  was,  no  doubt,  if  only  records  existed  to 
demonstrate  the  supposition,  the  actual  rig  of  the  first 
man  who  ever  dared  to  set  a  sail  on  his  frail  and  primi- 
tive boat  or  ship. 

In  another  volume  I  have  already  shown,  from  un- 
impeachable evidence,  that   the   large  square-sail  was 


28     ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

employed  on  the  ancient  ships  of  Egypt  not  only  for 
navigating  the  Nile,  but  even  for  sailing  in  the  Red 
Sea.  For  deep-sea  work  there  is,  of  course,  nothing  to 
equal  it ;  and  even  when  light  winds  occur,  and  the 
heave  of  the  ocean's  bosom  causes  so  much  damage  to 
gear  and  spars  and  canvas  through  incessant  chafing,  it 
is  the  square-sails  which  suffer  less  than  the  fore-and- 
aft  cut-sails.  There  was  also  a  special  reason  why  the 
large  square-sail  should  be  retained  for  so  many  centuries 
in  the  navigation  of  the  national  river  of  Egypt.  The 
stream  flows  out  in  a  northerly  direction,  yet  the  pre- 
vailing wind  blows  from  north  to  south.  Consequently, 
though  sail  and  mast  could  be  lowered  and  the  oars- 
men set  to  work  when  bound  down-stream,  the  return 
journey  could  be  made  with  the  utmost  ease.  The 
craft  was  sure  of  a  favourable  breeze  from  due  aft,  and 
there  was  little  need  to  worry  about  the  possibilities  of 
having  to  close-haul.  The  simplicity  of  using  the  square- 
sail  for  running  before  the  wind,  and,  by  the  employ- 
ment of  this  form  of  sail,  never  having  to  g^ihe,  caused 
the  rig  to  be  invaluable.  Even  in  bad  weather,  in  quite 
a  small  craft  I  have  run  for  many  miles  in  comfort 
under  a  square-sail  dead  before  the  wind,  knowing 
that  whereas  the  fore-and-aft  canvas  needs  immediate 
attention  every  time  a  gybe  occurs,  the  square-sail  will 
look  after  itself  and  accommodate  its  nature,  no  matter 
whether  the  wind  comes  from  the  starboard  or  port 
quarter. 

But  nevertheless,  as  every  sailing-man  knows,  or  as 
every  experimenter  will  quickly  discover  for  himself, 
the  square-sail  has  its  limitations  no  less  than  its  virtues/ 
It  will  not  hold  so  good  a  wind  as  the  fore-and-after :  in 
other  words,  the  square-rigged  vessel  will  not  sail  as 
close  to  the  wind  by  at  least  one  if  not  two  points. 
Thus  in  the  case  of  a  ship  beating  to  windward,  the 
square-rigger  has  further  to  go  than  the  fore-and-after. 
Now,  in  such  conflned  waters  as  rivers  this  unhandiness 
is  a  serious  matter,  and  has,  indeed,  to  be  remedied.     It 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     29 

was  after  the  art  of  tacking  or  beating  to  windward  had 
been  discovered  that  the  square-sail  underwent  certain 
modifications,  which  were  to  bring  about  what  we  know 
as  the  fore-and-aft  rig.  So  the  Egyptians,  becoming 
weary,  no  doubt,  of  eternally  rowing  their  craft  down 
the  Nile  against  the  northerly  wind,  at  length  sought 
some  means  of  harnessing  that  same  wind.  Ry  going 
in  a  zigzag  fashion  from  side  to  side  between  the  two 
banks  of  the  river  they  discovered  that  progress  could 
be  made  without  continuous  rowing.  For  a  time  the 
method  was  not  wholly  satisfactory,  because  the  square- 
sail  was  still  used  in  its  original  shape.  But  presently 
it  was  found  that  by  tilting  the  yard  so  that  the  peak 
of  the  sail  pointed  much  higher  and  well  above  the 
mast :  by  bringing  the  foot  also  down  almost  to  the 
deck,  a  much  better  effect  was  produced.  Forward  of 
the  mast  there  now  projected  a  certain  amount  of 
canvas,  and  whilst  the  actual  cut  and  shape  of  the  sail, 
its  yard  as  well  as  its  boom,  were  retained,  yet  the  real 
character  of  the  sail  was  totally  different.  Bear  in  mind 
that  the  Egyptian  sail  of  the  Nile  ships  was  square,  but 
much  wider  than  it  was  deep.  Imagine  in  your  mind, 
or,  better  still,  depict  the  same  for  yourself  by  taking 
paper  and  pencil,  a  rectangular  expanse  of  canvas  about 
three  times  wider  than  it  was  deep  ;  place  this  across  the 
mast,  not  horizontally,  but  in  such  a  manner  that  the 
yard  and  boom  being  parallel  to  each  other  they  make ' 
with  the  deck  an  angle  of  about  45  degrees,  and  you 
have  roughly  the  sail-plan  of  the  first  fore-and-aft  rigged 
vessel. 

With  this  improvement  the  Egyptians  can  nowffet 
to  windward.  In  itself  it  does  not  appear  to  be  a  vital 
change,  but  the  alteration  of  the  angle  which  the  boom 
and  yard  make  with  the  mast  or  deck  is  something 
revolutionary  in  character.  For  a  new  power  has  been 
put  into  the  sailing-ship ;  she  can  do  something  which 
she  has  never  before  attempted  successfully.  The 
Egyptian  nuggar  of  to-day  has  her  sail-plan  exactly  in 


30     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

accordance  with  the  diagram  which  you  have  just  drawn 
on  your  paper,  and  is  still  to  be  seen  on  the  waters 
of  Egypt  below  the  third  cataract,  though  it  is  being 
slowly  replaced  by  the  all-prevailing  lateen.  Practically 
the  sail  is  what  we  should  call  nowadays  a  balance-lug, 
which  many  a  yachtsman  places  in  his  sailing  dinghy 
or  canoe. 

But  this  useful  modification,  this  new  form  of  sail, 
was  not  to  remain  the  exclusive  possession  of  Egypt. 
As  the  influence  of  Egypt  spread  to  the  eastward,  so 
this  form  of  sail,  together  with  even  the  Egyptian  form  of 
hull,  followed  and  continued  to  be  employed.  Just  how 
old  this  ancient  balance-lug  is  no  one  can  say,  but'  it 
is  at  least  several  centuries  older  than  the  birth  of  our 
Lord. 

The  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  §),  which  is 
taken  from  an  old  Dutch  book  of  travels  published  in 
the  year  1598,  shows  a  Javanese  vessel  with  the  Egyp- 
tian influence  all  over  her.  Not  merely  the  shape  of 
the  hull,  but  the  sails  are  directly  traceable  to  the 
customs  which  obtained  on  the  Nile.  The  two  sails 
show  that  the  Egyptian  nuggar  influence  was  accepted 
without  question  and  allowed  to  remain  undeveloped, 
except  that  two  sails  are  employed  instead  of  one.  But 
apart  from  that,  here  is  the  very  early  form  of  the  primi- 
tive fore-and-aft  rig :  the  tilted  square-sail  utilised  to 
give  to  the  ship  increased  handiness  and  greater  ability 
for  sailing  in  narrow  and  confined  channels.  The  peak 
is  high,  the  foot  low,  and  yet  the  sails  are  shallow  and 
wide. 

That  is  the  first  stage  in  the  inquiry  on  which  we 
are  focussing  our  attention.  As  all  civilisation  sprang 
from  the  East,  as  the  ship  herself,  and  even  the  square- 
sail  came  from  that  quarter  of  the  globe,  so  also  did  the 
fore-and-aft  rig  in  embryo.  It  was  an  Oriental  and  not 
a  Northern  development  at  the  first,  although,  as  we 
shall  see  later  on  in  this  book,  it  was  the  Northern 
nations  that  were  to  take  it  in  hand,  improve  it,  and 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     81 

make  it  specially  serviceable  for  local  uses.  Now  this 
nuggar-lug  was  itself  capable  of  improvements,  and  the 
lines  on  which  the  sail  became  modified  may  be  seen  in 
the  familiar  sailing  craft  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  Persian 
Gulf,  and  the  Indian  Ocean.  For  the  dhow  is  the  lineal 
descendant  of  the  nuggar,  and  especially  so  in  the 
matter  of  rig.  Her  sail  is  called  a  lateen,  and  embodies 
the  nuggar-lug,  but  the  idea  has  been  considerably 
developed  so  that  it  changes  from  a  rectangular  shape 
to  triangular.  Although  the  yard  is  retained,  it  is 
made  of  immense  length,  and  Mr.  Warington  Smyth 
mentions  that  he  remembers  measuring  the  mainyard 
of  a  dahabia  and  finding  it  134  feet  long.  Rut  with 
this  increased  length  of  yard  the  boom  disappears,  the 
sail  becomes  peaked  even  higher  still,  and  it  also  be- 
comes deeper  instead  of  the  shallow  feature  of  the 
nuggar-lug.  Furthermore,  instead  of  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  sail  extending  forward  of  the  mast,  the 
lateen  allows  quite  a  considerable  part  of  its  area  to 
be  there. 


ERRATUM 
Page  30,  line  l6,  for  '  Fig,  1 '  read  '  Fig.  8. ' 


Fore  and  A/t 


30     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

accordance  with  the  diagram  which  you  have  just  drawn 
on  your  paper,  and  is  still  to  be  seen  on  tlie  waters 
of  Egypt  below  the  third  cataract,  though  it  is  being 
slowly  replaced  by  the  all-prevailing  lateen.  Practically 
the  sail  is  what  we  should  call  nowadays  a  balance-lug, 
which  many  a  yachtsman  places  in  his  sailing  dinghy 
or  canoe. 

But  this  useful  modification,  this  new  form  of  sail, 
was  not  to  remain  the  exclusive  possession  of  Egypt. 
As  the  influence  of  Egypt  spread  to  the  eastward,  so 
this  form  of  sail,  together  with  even  the  Egyptian  form  of 
hull,  followed  and  continued  to  be  employed.  Just  how 
old  this  ancient  balance-lug  is  no  one  can  say,  but'  it 
is  at  least  several  centuries  older  than  the  birth  of  our 
Lord. 

The  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  J),  which  is 
taken  from  an  old  Dutch  book  of  travels  published  in 
the  year  1598,  shows  a  Javanese  vessel  with  the  Egyp- 
tian influence  all  over  her.  Not  merely  the  shape  of 
the  hull,  but  the  sails  are  directly  traceable   to   the 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     81 

make  it  specially  serviceable  for  local  uses.  Now  this 
nuggar-lug  was  itself  capable  of  improvements,  and  the 
lines  on  which  the  sail  became  modified  may  be  seen  in 
the  familiar  sailing  craft  of  the  Red  Sea,  the  Persian 
Gulf,  and  the  Indian  Ocean.  For  the  dhow  is  the  lineal 
descendant  of  the  nuggar,  and  especially  so  in  the 
matter  of  rig.  Her  sail  is  called  a  lateen,  and  embodies 
the  nuggar-lug,  but  the  idea  has  been  considerably 
developed  so  that  it  changes  from  a  rectangular  shape 
to  triangular.  Although  the  yard  is  retained,  it  is 
made  of  immense  length,  and  Mr.  Warington  Smyth 
mentions  that  he  remembers  measuring  the  mainyard 
of  a  dahabia  and  finding  it  134  feet  long.  But  with 
this  increased  length  of  yard  the  boom  disappears,  the 
sail  becomes  peaked  even  higher  still,  and  it  also  be- 
comes deeper  instead  of  the  shallow  feature  of  the 
nuggar-lug.  Furthermore,  instead  of  only  a  small 
portion  of  the  sail  extending  forward  of  the  mast,  the 
lateen  allows  quite  a  considerable  part  of  its  area  to 
be  there. 

Thus  the  gaiassas  and  dahabias  of  Egypt,  the  dhow 
and  baggaras  of  the  Arabs,  the  gehazi  of  Zanzibar,  the 
pattamar  of  Bombay  are,  next  to  the  nuggar,  the  world's 
earliest  fore-and-aft  rigged  vessels.  Omitting  small 
differences  as  to  detail,  we  may  conveniently  refer  to 
the  rig  common  to  them  all  as  the  dhow,  and  to  the 
sail  as  the  lateen.  Now,  in  spite  of  the  advance  of 
years,  this  lateen-rig  has  continued  in  the  East,  and 
still  remains,  not  only  east  of  Suez,  but  in  the  Medi- 
terranean. When  the  Venetians,  the  Genoese,  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  Portuguese  became  so  civilised  that 
by  the  time  of  the  early  JNIiddle  Ages  they  were  the 
greatest  maritime  nations  of  Europe,  their  ships  were 
rigged  according  to  the  historic  INIediterranean  custom 
with  enormous  spreading  lateen-sails,  triangular  in 
shape  and  very  highly  peaked.  The  Vikings  of  the 
North,  on  the  contrary,  were  all  this  time  employing 
the  square-sail  exclusively,  thanks,  as  I  firmly  believe, 


32     ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

to  the  advent  of  early  Phrenician  voyagers  centuries 
before.  But  since  the  Mediterranean  was  situated  in 
such  close  proximity  to  early  civilisation,  since  it  actu- 
ally received  into  it  the  very  waters  of  the  Nile,  and, 
further,  since  its  many  harbours  and  land-locked  creeks 
were  peculiarly  fitted  for  the  dhow-rig,  it  was  but 
natural  that  the  lateen-sail  should  become  established 
as  the  standard  rig.  It  was  still  further  encouraged  by 
the  retention  from  the  times  of  the  ancient  Greeks  and 
Romans  of  that  long,  low-lying  craft  we  call  the  galley, 
which  in  itself  is  a  peculiarity  and  a  characteristic  feature 
of  those  southern  waters.  The  galley  was  primarily 
made  for  speed  and  to  be  rowed,  but  with  a  fair  breeze 
the  canvas  was  set.  Althouofh  for  some  centuries  the 
square-sail  was  retained,  yet  about  the  year  1500  it  was 
discarded  and  the  Oriental  rig  used  instead,  because 
for  her  the  high-peaked  lateen  was  especially  suitable. 
As  we  can  see  for  ourselves  from  existing  pictures 
of  early  masters,  when  any  sail  was  set  at  all  the  craft 
were  literally  smothered  in  canvas,  and  with  the  small 
displacement  which  these  vessels  possessed,  with  their 
lightness  and  great  length,  their  speed  before  the  wind 
must  have  been  something  enormous. 
■  And  even  when  the  Venetians,  Genoese,  the 
Spaniards,  and  the  Portuguese  took  to  building  big- 
bellied  cargo  craft,  and  left  the  galley  type  merely  for 
warlike  purposes,  the  lateen-sail  was  still  employed. 
No  matter  whether  the  merchant  craft  carried  one  or 
three  masts  they  were  fitted  with  the  triangular  lateen 
and  not  the  square-sail.  Thus  it  was  that  Moorish 
pirates,  Italian  cargo-carriers,  or  Spanish  galleys  swore 
by  the  excellencies  of  the  lateen  fore-and-aft  rig.  It 
spread  everywhere  in  the  south,  and  still  prevails  even 
to  this  day.  Even  the  Swiss  lakes  retain  it,  as  the 
tourist  is  well  aware.  The  resemblance  of  this  lateen- 
rig  to  the  Arabian  dhows  is  very  marked.  But  actual 
experience  shows  that  these  Swiss  craft  embody  all  the 
disadvantages  of  the  dhow-rig,  for  the  high  peak  whilst 


ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND  AFT   RIG     33 

of  unquestionable  benefit  in  light  winds,  is  the  most 
unsuitable  of  all  in  sudden  squalls.  These  Swiss  ships 
have  wonderful  reputations  for  "  ghostino,"  yet  when 
those  sudden  and  hard  winds  blow  down  on  to  the 
surface  of  the  lake  from  the  mountains  above,  these 
sails  are  positively  dangerous.  But  for  all  that,  so 
powerful  is  the  conservative  spirit  of  sailors,  whether 
on  sea  or  fresh  water,  that  the  rig  has  never  been 
discarded. 

To-day  the  lateen-rig  is  to  be  found  from  one  end  of 
the  Mediterranean  to  the  other.  You  will  note  all  sorts 
of  modifications,  you  may  notice  three  masts  instead  of 
one,  and  even  in  the  "  one-sticker  "  you  will  occasionally 
find  that,  not  content  with  its  lateen  canvas  projecting 
both  forward  and  abaft  the  mast,  other  sails  have  been 
sometimes  added.  A  moderate  instance  of  this  is  to  be 
found  in  such  a  craft  as  the  Marseilles  fishing-boat,  which 
has  added  a  foresail.  The  accompanying  photograph 
taken  from  a  picture  in  the  Boijman's  Museum,  Rotter- 
dam, by  Jan  Abrahams  Beerstraten,  painted  in  1654, 
shows  an  Italian  harbour  with  a  vessel  so  rigged  running 
before  the  wind.  The  most  extreme  example,  how- 
ever, is  to  be  found  in  that  singularly  curious  craft  of 
Portugal  known  by  the  name  of  the  muletta.  But 
with  each  of  these  we  shall  deal  later.  Our  immediate 
object  is  to  insist  that  the  fore-and-aft  rig  as  we  have 
it  in  northern  Europe  is  of  much  later  development 
as  compared  with  the  Mediterranean  lateen.  In  its 
original  purity  the  latter  is  just  a  large  triangular  sail, 
of  which  a  good  portion  is  forward  of  the  mast.  The 
addition  of  jib  and  staysail,  of  topsail,  of  even  "  water- 
sails  "  as  well ;  the  multiplication  of  masts  so  that  one 
or  two  of  them  may  carry  square-rigged  canvas — all 
such  things  as  these  are  accretions  and  do  not  properly 
belong  to  the  native  Mediterranean  rig.  Rather  they 
have  been  adopted  owing  to  the  northern  influence 
exercised  through  the  medium  of  English,  Dutch,  or 
French  ships   voyaging   so   frequently  backwards  and 

c 


34     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

forwards  to  the  Middle  Sea.  It  is,  indeed,  quite  amus- 
ing to  notice  that  whereas  both  the  square  rig  and  the 
fore-and-aft  came  to  northern  Europe  entirely  owing 
to  the  Mediterranean  ships,  yet  the  former,  at  a  later 
date,  actually  had  a  most  potent  influence  in  fashioning 
the  southern  rigs  as  we  know  them  to-day.  Those 
curious  additions  of  triangular  headsails  and  topsails 
actually  give  to  the  ships  of  the  south  the  character  of 
a  mongrel.  They  have  an  effect  about  as  incongruous 
as  those  offences  to  the  eye  when  one  occasionally 
espies  coming  down  the  main  street  of  some  old  town 
of  the  Netherlands  a  Dutch  woman  clad  not  merely  in 
the  attractive  costume  of  North  Holland,  but  capped 
by  a  black  bonnet  and  strings  of  the  dowdiest  nine- 
teenth-century cut  placed  over  the  national  headgear. 

It  is  essential  to  our  study  that  we  should  possess 
some  general  idea  of  the  different  varieties  of  the 
lateen-rig  of  the  south  before  we  proceed  to  study  the 
manner  in  which  the  Mediterranean  cast  its  spell 
over  the  north.  Our  task,  however,  is  not  by  any 
means  exclusively  confined  to  the  lateeners,  but  rather 
to  show  how,  given  a  certain  theme,  different  nations 
in  different  periods  have  elaborated  the  same.  If, 
then,  we  run  very  briefly  through  the  modifications 
of  the  descendant  of  the  nuggar  lateen-sail,  and  in  the 
following  chapter  proceed  to  show  the  different  aims 
which  actuated  those  dwellers  by  the  side  of  the 
North  Sea,  we  shall  be  enabled  to  see  the  intimate 
connection  which  exists  between,  say,  the  Lowestoft 
drifter  of  to-day  and  the  Nile  nuggar  both  of  the 
present  and  the  past.  In  the  illustration  of  the 
Marseilles  fishing-boat  which  is  given  in  our  final 
chapter  it  will  be  seen  that  the  raking  mast  of  the 
Oriental  craft  is  retained,  and  that  the  headsail  is  not 
set  on  a  bowsprit ;  but  among  the  JNIediterranean 
trading  coasters  a  bowsprit  is  common  enough 
together  with  a  topmast  and  topsail. 

If  we  examine  some  of  those  interesting  prints  of 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     35 

the  sixteenth  century  we  shall  find  frequently  a 
species  of  Mediterranean  galley  called  the  tartana, 
and  the  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  2)  will  show 
that  she  carried  a  couple  of  lateen-sails.  The  galle- 
asses were  a  later  development  of  the  galley,  the 
aim  being  to  preserve  the  handiness  of  the  latter,  yet 
to  combine  some  of  the  better  sea-keeping  qualities 


Fig.  2. — Mediterranean  Tartana. 

She  has  a  couple  of  the  southern  lateen-sails,  and  on  each  sail  has  a  brailing- 
line  for  shortening  in  canvas  when  necessary.  (Taken  from  Chapman's 
Architcctura  Navalis.) 

of  the  bigger-bodied  ship.  Contemporary  illustrations  n^ 
of  the  Spanish  Armada  show  such  craft  rigged  with 
three  masts,  on  each  a  lateen,  but  some  of  the  craft 
have  their  foremast  rigged  entirely  with  a  couple  of 
square-sails,  the  two  other  masts  having  each  a  lateen. 
In  the  nineteenth  century  sometimes  the  lateener, 
not  content  with  carrying  a  jib  and  bowsprit,  added 
to  herself  also  a  square  topsail  and  a  lateen  mizzen. 
Even  when  the  southern  ship  had  so  forgotten  her 
national    characteristics   as   to    rig    herself    after    the 


36     ORIGIN    OF   THE    FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

manner  of  a  northern  brigantine,  yet  she  would 
sometimes  retain  the  loftily  peaked  yard  and  sail  of 
the  lateen  on  the  mizzen. 

^   Another  characteristic  to  be  noted  is  that  whereas 
the  lateen  of  the  Orient  tends  to  become  practically 
a  rectangular  shape,  the   Spanish  fishing   craft  retain 
their  strictly  triangular  form.     But  it  is  the  Portuguese 
moletta  or  muletta  which,  though  a  lateener  by  descent 
and  nationality,  does  her  very  best  to  disguise  herself 
from  any  other  vessel  afloat  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
Looked  at  for  the  first  time,  it  seems  impossible   to 
place  her  in  any  category  of  sailing  craft.      Her  sail- 
plan  seems  less  like  that  of  any  rational  vessel  than  a 
terrible  nightmare  of  a  geometrician.      Everywhere  it 
seems  all  angles  and  squares ;    the  number  of  straight 
lines  is  bewildering  and  apparently  utterly  meaning- 
less.    You  would  put  her  down  at  the  best  as  a  freak 
of  an  exceptional  type  and  past  the  wit  of  any  sailing- 
man    to    comprehend,  let   alone   the   average   layman 
accustomed   only  to  pleasure  craft  or   the   picture  of 
full-rigged  ships.     But  it  is  when  we  begin  to  examine 
the  muletta  that  we  find  out  her  true  nature.      In  the 
main  she  is  still  a  lateener,  as  her  biggest  sail  shows. 
Forward  she  carries  those  square  "  water-sails  "  which 
belonged  to  the  first  full-rigged  ships  of  the  INIiddle 
Ages,  and   handed  down   to   us   through   the    Tudor 
and  Elizabethan  periods  even  to  the  early  part  of  the 
nineteenth  century,  when  our  sailor-men  used  to  call 
them  "Jimmy  Green's."      Right  aft  a  jigger  projects 
over    the    stern    something    after   the   manner    of    a 
West  of  England   lugger,   and  thus  additional  after- 
canvas  can  be  set.     Forward  of  the  lateen  a  staysail  is 
set,  which  reaches  from  the  top  of  the  mast  to  the 
bowsprit  or  sometimes  to  the  stem-head.      Forward  of 
that,    again,    comes   the  jib,    and   besides   the   lower 
water-sail  there  is  also  an  upper  small  square-sail  which 
extends  from  a  small  foremast  with  considerable  rake 
forward,  after  the  manner,  and  a  survival  of,  of  the 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     37 

classical    artemon    which    existed    even   in   St    Paul's 
time. 

What  is  the  meaning  of  all  this  complication,  do 
you  ask  ?     The  answer  is  very  simple.     These  mulettasw* 
are  employed  in  the  trawling   industry,   and   the   in- 
tention is  to  balance  the  sail  of  the  bows  against  that 
of  the  stern,  so  that   they   may   easily   regulate   the 
speed  of  the  ship  when  the  trawl  is   down.       These 
beamy,  black- hulled  craft  are  about  fifty  feet  in  length 
and  carry  a  crew  of  ten  men,  their  home  being   up 
the  Tagus.      The  muletta  is  evidently  very  proud  of 
her   ancestry,  for   she   still  paints  eyes  on  her  bows, 
still  fits  those  curious  spikes  forward  above  the  water- 
line,    features    which     are     curious     but     interesting 
survivals   from   the   time   when    the    Roman    galleys 
used  to  ram  each  other  on  the  waters  of  the  Medi- 
terranean.       The   smallest    of     these    craft    measure  ^ 
forty-five  feet  long,  and  the  largest  have  sixty  feet, 
with  ample  beam.     The  greatest  number  of  crew  does  '*' 
not  exceed  eighteen  men,  but  excessive  as  that  amount 
of  hands  seems  to  us  they  are  necessary  when  so  many 
different  sections  of  canvas  have  to  be  handled,  and 
a  sudden  squall  requires  all  these  amazing  kites  to  be 
got   in    smartly.      The  lines  of  the  muletta  are   not 
less  curious  than  her  rig,  for  instead  of  having  a  keel 
coming  down  lower  than  the  hull,  the  converse  is  the 
case  and  her  bottom  is  quite  hollow,  so  that  when  she 
is  beached   she  can  take  the  ground  without  heeling. 
Furthermore,  when    she  heels   under   her  canvas   she 
thus  has  a  greater  draught  listed  than  when  exactly 
upright.     The  fishing  is  done  with  a  kind  of  beamless 
trawl,    ropes    from    the   net    being    fastened    to    the 
projecting  spars  seen  at  either  end  of  the  craft,  the 
latter  being  allowed   to  drift  sideways,  her  after-sails 
balancing  her  head -sails,  and  a  leeboard  controls  her 
drifting  to  some  extent.      The  chief  cruising  ground 
of  these  craft  is  in  the  vicinity  of  the  Burlings,  a  group 
of  rocks  lying  off  the  Portuguese  coast  near  the  bar 


38     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

of  the  Tagus.  The  spikes,  though  chiefly  ornamental, 
have  their  uses,  for  they  are  fitted  with  fairleads  for 
the  sheets  of  the  water-sails,  and  are  sometimes  also 
used  for  carrying  creels  of  fish. 

But  it  is  when  we  pass  eastwards  to  the  waters  of 
the  Adriatic  that  we  come  to  another  development  of 
the  nuggar-rig.  We  have  now  not  the  lateen  of 
Spain  or  Portugal,  but  the  lugsail,  that  is  so  typical 
of  Italy,  which  Turner  and  a  thousand  other  artists 
have  made  so  familiar  to  us  in  their  brightly  coloured 
paintings  of  the  Adriatic.  The  fore-and-aft  rig  may 
best  be  studied  by  confining  our  attention  to  the  two 
main  types  of  craft,  called  respectively  the  trabaccolo 
and  the  braggozzi.  The  decorations,  striking  and  con- 
trasting in  their  hues  of  the  sails,  can  be  left  out  of  our 
immediate  consideration,  for  these  are  but  details,  and 
serve  only  to  confuse  the  study  of  the  rig  itself.  The 
"^trabaccolo  is  to  be  met  with  in  most  of  the  Adriatic 
ports,  brilliant  in  paint  and  sails,  though  the  latter  are 
much  better  cut  than  a  casual  critic  might  suspect. 
The  trabaccolo  is  rigged  with  a  standing  lug  on  each 
of  her  two  masts  and  a  jib  on  her  bowsprit.  Occa- 
sionally the  mainmast  carries  a  gaff  mainsail  instead  of 
the  lug,  but  this  is  not  frequent.  Usually  painted 
some  combination  of  yellow  and  crimson,  the  sails  are 
sometimes  left  white.  Their  ground  tackle  consists  of 
enormous  grapnels  and  hempen  cables.  The  jib  is  cut 
very  low,  and  set  on  a  bowsprit  steeved  high.  These 
ships  have  a  bold  sheer,  are  almost  flat-bottomed,  and, 
as  in  the  Marseifles  fishing  and  pilot  craft,  the  rudder 
descends  some  distance  below  the  keel.  Good  sea- 
boats,  weatherly,  they  carry  the  cargoes  of  the  Adriatic 
up  and  down  the  coast.  The  sail-spread  is  not  exces- 
sive, but  the  lines  of  the  vessel  herself  are  beautiful, 
giving  with  the  high  bow  and  the  rounded  stern  a 
singularly  able  ship,  suitable  for  the  heavy  blows  and 
seas  for  which  the  Adriatic  is  famous. 
^The  braggozzi  rig  is  another  type  of  the  standing  lug 


ORIGIN   OF   THE    FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     39 

carrying  two  masts,  whose  home  port  is  Chioggia.  In 
size  the  braggozzi  is  inferior  when  compared  with  many 
of  our  British  fishing  craft.  She  is  a  kind  of  distant 
cousin  of  some  of  our  fishing  luggers,  but  the  foremast 
and  foresail  of  the  Italian  are  much  smaller  than  the 
main.  Beamy  and  bluff-bowed,  with  an  enormous 
rudder  which  can  be  triced  up  when  approaching 
shallow  water,  the  mainmast  is  stepped  well  aft.  The 
braggozzi,  with  its  two  lugsails,  both  of  which  are- 
distinctly  well  cut,  is  anything  but  a  slow  craft  in  a 
breeze,  and  can  hold  a  good  wind.  Flat-bottomed, 
with  a  gracefully  curved  bow,  somewhat  heavily  built, 
especially  by  the  stern,  they  are  among  the  most 
interesting  of  all  developments  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig. 

The  Italian  lugsail  has  also  spread  to  the  waters 
of  Greece,  where  in  ancient  times  the  old  galleys  were 
never  rigged  except  with  square-sails.  But  in  spite  of 
the  fact  that  the  lugsail  has  much  its  ow^n  way  in  the 
near  East  (and  this,  as  the  legitimate  descendant  of  the 
lateen,  is  but  natural),  yet  it  is  strange  to  find  that  in 
Turkish  waters  the  spritsail — a  distinctly  northern  and 
Dutch-like  rig — should  have  become  so  conspicuous  a 
favourite.  Thus  there  is,  by  the  most  curious  coinci- 
dence, a  kinship  between  the  modern  Thames  barge 
and  the  coaster  of  the  Dardanelles,  although  the  latter 
carries  a  couple  of  square-sails  on  his  mast  as  well. 
The  adoption  of  the  spritsail  arose  through  the  facility 
which  the  latter  possesses  of  being  quickly  brailed 
w4ien  one  of  those  not  infrequent  squalls  peculiar  to 
the  Mediterranean  comes  rushing  down  on  the  sailing- 
ship.  And  it  was  almost  certainly  from  the  ships  of 
the  Netherlands  during  the  seventeenth  century,  when 
the  Dutch  w^ere  at  their  highest  point  of  maritime 
power,  that  this  spritsail  plan  was  introduced  into  a 
corner  of  the  world  where  w^e  should  least  have 
expected  to  have  encountered  it.  It  is  only  when 
we  reaHse  how  far-travelled  were  the  Dutch  "  wag- 
goners of  the  sea "  in  those  days,  how  great  a  trade 


40     ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

they  carried  on  by  means  of  their  ships  between  the 
Low  Countries  and  the  Levant,  that  the  explanation 
becomes  perfectly  simple.  Here  was  just  the  quarter 
where  the  old  Mahommedan  galleys  were  wont  to  use 
the  ample  canvas  of  the  lateen,  but  its  long  yard  and 
its  great  expanse  of  sail-area  made  it  an  unwieldy 
thing  to  handle  in  a  squall  or  a  hard  blow.  The 
spritsail,  on  the  contrary,  could  be  brailed  up  both 
quickly  and  effectively,  and  so  it  has  continued. 

After  we  have  left  the  Mediterranean  and  pursued 
our  way  eastwards  to  China,  we  are  again  confronted 
with  a  strange  surprise.  For  whilst  the  Egyptian 
influence  spread  itself  thither,  and  is  to  this  day  but 

_  thinly  veiled  in  the  general  lines  of  the  Chinese  junks, 
yet  the  original  square-sail  of  the  Nile  has,  in  Chinese 
waters,  become  a  lug  of  a  most  effective  and  serviceable 
kind.  Stiffened  by  battens,  hoisted  on  a  pole-mast, 
bent  to  both  yard  and  boom,  kept  to  the  mast  by  a 
hauling  parrel,  fitted  with  topping-lifts  on  both  sides 
of  the  sail,  the  sail  can  be  lowered  instantaneously  in  a 
squall,  and  it  is  the  handiness  of  the  Chinese  rig  which 
is  one  of  its  greatest  virtues.  But  it  is  curious  to  note 
that  Western  influence  again  asserts  itself  to  produce 
another  mongrel  type,  when  we  find  some  of  the  big 
Chinese  trawlers  occasionally  setting  triangular  stay- 
sails between  their  two  masts.  And  as  the  Italian 
lugsails  have  spread  to  the  Grecian  Archipelago,  so 
the  Chinese  have  cast  their  maritime  influence  over 
the  Malay  seamen  and  elsewhere.  Even  many  of  our 
British  sailing  canoes  owe  their  rig  entirely  to  the 
ingenuity  of  the  Chinese  junk. 

\/  To  sum  up,  then,  we  trace  the  origin  of  the  fore- 
and-aft  rig  to  the  days  when  Egypt  was  in  its  prime, 
when  the  square-sail  was  the  only  rig  that  any  nation 
was  acquainted  with.  Then,  because  the  square-sail 
had  its  own  defects,  which  we  have  already  noted,  the 
nuggar  -  lug  followed.  Thereafter  the  influence  of 
Egypt,  even  after  the  downfall  of  its  dynasties,  spread 


ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     41 

both  east  and  west.  The  Phoenicians  and  Greeks  and 
Romans  held  on  to  the  square-sail  for  a  time,  but  as 
civilisation  developed  tlie  seafaring  man  could  not 
remain  altogether  satisfied  with  his  unhandy  sail,  so 
the  Mediterraneans  changed  it  to  the  lateen,  and,  as 
in  Italy  and  elsewhere,  later  on  to  the  standing  lug. 
The  Chinese,  however,  attained  their  own  kind  of 
civilisation  at  one  leap,  and  have  been  content  to 
remain  at  that  stage  with  conservative  immobility ; 
yet  so  thorough  and  reasonable  was  it  that  it  would 
seem  to  have  skipped  from  the  square-sail  to  the  lug 
in  one  stage :  to  have  seen  at  once  that  the  square-sail 
must  develop  forthwith  into  the  lug  without  the  inter- 
mediate stage  of  the  unwieldy  lateen. 

But  our  inquiry  now  is  to  follow  up  the  devel- 
opment of  the  fore  -  and  -  aft  rig  along  that  line  of 
civilisation  whose  direction  throughout  history  has 
been  roughly  north  and  west :  in  other  words,  to  the 
English  Channel,  the  North  Sea,  and  across  the 
Atlantic  to  North  America.  To-day  the  Spanish 
felucca  still  carries  the  triangular  lateen-sail,  just  as 
Spain  always  retained  this  sail  even  when  its  big 
ocean-going  vessels  of  three  masts  had  all  but  the 
bonaventure  and  the  main-mizzen  as  well,  when  four 
masts  w^ere  carried,  rigged  with  square  -  canvas  and 
yards.  So,  also,  when  the  English  and  Dutch  and 
French  began  to  build  their  deep-sea  ships  they  still 
followed  the  JNIediterranean  custom  of  setting  a  lateen 
on  the  mizzen — doubtless  for  the  reason  that  this  form 
of  sail  held  a  better  wind  and  materially  aided  the 
steering  of  these  big,  unhandy  vessels — and  it  was 
not  until  even  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century 
that  the  triangular  lateen  on  our  own  British  battle- 
ships was  so  modified  that  it  became  the  modern 
spanker  and  driver  of  the  full-rigged  ship,  and  still 
survives  also  on  the  barque.  The  process  was  quite 
simple ;  for  that  portion  of  the  lateen-yard  which 
projected  forward  of  the  mizzen-mast  was  lopped  off. 


42     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

but  already  prior  to  that  the  forward  portion  of  the 
lateen-sail  had  been  cut  away  entirely,  leaving  only 
a  quadrilateral  sail-area  on  that  mast.  The  point  is,  y 
an  interesting  one,  and  whenever  we  cast  our  eyes 
over  those  few  surviving  full-rigged  ships  or  barques, 
either  in  harbour  or  at  sea,  we  can  look  astern  and 
remind  ourselves  that  that  spanker  is  but  a  modified 
form  of  the  old  lateen  of  the  Mediterranean,  and  so  of 
the  Nile  nuggar- lug. 

Such  briefly  is  the  evolution  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig 
of  the  south,  and  this  must  suffice  by  way  of  introduc- 
tion before  we  proceed  to  see  how  the  northerners 
were  to  avail  themselves  of  the  heritage  of  those  who 
were  fortunate  enough  to  live  in  closer  proximity  to 
the  beginnings  of  civilisation  and  mental  enterprise. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  follow  the  manifold  develop- 
ments which  in  all  sorts  of  out-of-the-way  places  south 
of  the  Equator  have  occurred  in  connection  with  the 
lateen  and  lug ;  but  that  is  not  our  purpose,  and  is 
of  only  minor  importance  compared  with  what  has 
happened  in  the  northern  hemisphere.  The  rulers  of 
the  earth  are  the  rulers  of  the  sea,  and  always  have 
been,  and  no  nation  can  be  lord  of  the  sea  without 
being  responsible  for  much  progress  in  the  evolution 
of  the  rigs  and  ships  that  traverse  the  sea.  Whilst  v' 
the  Scandinavians  have  been  responsible  chiefly  for 
the  propagation  of  the  square-sail  in  northern  waters 
it  is  owing  to  England,  Holland,  France,  and  America 
that  the  evolution  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  has  made 
such  wonderful  progress,  and  especially  to  the  first 
two. 

It  is  now  to  be  our  pleasant  task  to  look  into  this 
progress,  to  examine  one  by  one  the  alterations  in  rig, 
the  improvements  in  gear,  and  the  general  modifica- 
tions which  have  occurred  to  the  hulls  in  connection 
with  the  evolution  and  spread  of  this  rig.  We  shall 
find  the  theme  of  unending  interest  alike  for  its  history 
and  for  its  connection  with  the  unremitting  endeavours 


ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     43 

of  mankind  to  beat  the  sea  at  its  own  game.  We  shall 
love  our  ships  none  the  less  for  knowing  more  about 
their  varied  careers,  but  rather  in  learning  to  appreciate 
some  of  the  difficulties  which  our  ancestors  had  to 
contend  with  in  order  to  bring  about  a  satisfactory 
rig,  we  shall  find  instruction  for  ourselves  that  may 
not  be  utterly  worthless  when  we  turn  our  minds  to 
the  direction  of  improving  some  feature  of  the  modern 
expression  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig. 


CHAPTER  III 

ORIGIN    OF    THE    FORE-AND-AFT    RIG    IN    NORTHERN 

EUROPE 

HAVING  regard  to  the  importance,  the  prevalence, 
and  the  varieties  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  in  Europe, 
America,  and  elsewhere,  it  is  unfortunate  that  no 
trace  can  be  found  of  any  record  of  the  date  when 
this  rig  was  introduced  into  northern  Europe.  1  have 
myself  made  most  careful  and  extensive  researches,  yet 
have  failed  after  years  of  inquiry  to  arrive  at  any  definite 
date,  and  it  is  extremely  unlikely  that  we  shall  ever  be 
able  to  obtain  such  information.  But  the  date  at  which 
I  have  succeeded  in  fixing  the  actual  existence  of  the 
fore-and-aft  rig  is  many  years  earlier  than  has  been 
assigned  hitherto,  and  will  be  dealt  with  in  due  course. 
And  notwithstanding  that  there  are  gaps  in  the  historical 
sequence  just  at  points  where  we  can  least  afford  to 
dispense  with  them,  yet  in  spite  of  this  it  will  not  be 
impossible  to  place  before  the  reader  a  clear  idea  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  transition  occurred.  With  the 
material  that  has  happily  been  preserved  to  us,  we 
cannot  remain  entirely  in  ignorance  of  one  of  the  most 
notable  evolutions  in  the  history  of  human  activity  and 
progress. 

Now  we  must  remember  that  in  the  north  as  in  the  v^ 
south  of  Europe  the  square-sail  comes  first  in  his- 
torical sequence.  In  my  previous  history  of  the  saihng- 
ship,  I  suggested  that  the  Scandinavians  and  Vikings 
succeeded  to  this  heritage  from  the  Phoenicians,  and 
subsequent  study  of  the  subject  has  only  tended  to 
strengthen  my  belief  in  this  theory.     From  the  North-  J 


ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     45 

men  the  V^iking  shape  of  hull,  plus  their  square-sail, 
came  to  be  the  standard  type  of  15ritish  craft.  There 
were,  of  course,  certain  modifications  as  time  went  on, 
and  new  ideas  occurred ;  but,  roughly  speaking,  till  the 
time  the  Tudor  dynasty  arrived  the  \^iking  square-sail 
ship  obtained  in  the  fishing,  the  trading,  and  the  fight- 
ing craft  of  our  country,  and  not  merely  here,  but  in 
France,  as  well  as  the  Low  Countries.  It  was  but 
natural  that  this  should  be,  for  the  Norsemen  had  over- 
run the  sea-girt  countries  of  tlie  German  Ocean,  and 
not  only  dominated  the  very  liberties  of  these  nations, 
but  instilled  into  them  the  Scandinavian  ideas  in  regard 
to  nautical  matters,  as  the  conquering  race  usually  and 
forcibly  instructs  its  vanquished.  The  minds  of  those 
dwellers  by  the  sea  were  too  little  sharpened  to  allow 
of  much  possibility  of  originality.  They  acted  mostly 
according  to  precedent,  and  continued  to  repeat  types 
rather  than  create  new  models.  Thus  it  was,  then, 
that  the  Scandinavian  ideal  was  followed.  Thus  it«»' 
was,  also,  that  for  centuries  the  fore-and-aft  rig  never 
reached,  or  at  any  rate  was  never  accepted  by,  the  sea- 
men of  northern  Europe.  They  had — some  of  them — 
seen  the  lateen  when  they  voyaged  to  the  Mediter- 
ranean at  the  time  of  the  Crusades  or  for  purposes  of 
trade. 

But  seamen  are  the  most  conservative  and  obstinate  * 
human  beings  which  ever  trod  the  earth  ;  though,  as 
we  know  from  existing  records,  the  big  ships  of  the 
Mediterranean  did  most  certainly  impress  them,  yet 
it  ended  at  that.  Doubtless  their  own  craft  they  con- 
sidered to  be  better  for  their  own  work ;  no  doubt 
they  reasoned,  in  much  the  same  manner  as  many  a 
fisherman  or  ship's  hand  argues  to-day  when  they  come 
to  see  some  strange  rig  for  the  first  time,  some  im- 
provement in  gear,  some  novel  form  of  hull.  They 
"  didn't  hold  with  it,"  just  because  it  was  something 
which  hitherto  had  never  come  within  their  experience. 
The   case   is   analogous  to  the  fisherman   and   sailing 


46     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

coaster  who  a  few  years  ago  scorned  and  derided  the 
mere  thought  and  mention  of  the  marine  motor.  He 
"  didn't  hold  "  with  that  either,  simply  because  he  had 
never  had  experience  of  them.  But  now  that  he  finds 
that  a  motor-auxiliary  gets  the  fish  home  to  port  more 
quickly,  enables  the  topsail  schooner  to  enter  harbour 
regardless  of  the  tide  and  to  make  her  trading  voyages 
with  a  regularity  rivalled  only  by  the  small  coasting 
steamer,  he  has  changed  his  mind.  He  recognises,  in 
spite  of  himself,  the  obvious  advantages  of  this  new 
departure,  for  it  gives  to  the  sailing-ship  an  efficiency 
and  a  handiness  which  she  never  possessed  before. 

In  much  the  same  way  the  fore-and-aft  rig  had  to 
fight  its  way  into  adoption,  yet  it  was  more  difficult, 
because  it  had  to  fight  against  even  more  stubborn 
ignorance  than  the  motor  engine  has  had  to  contend 
with  to-day.  But  then  there  occurred  in  Europe  that 
wonderful,  far-reaching  movement  which  we  call  the 
Renaissance.  It  sent  a  kind  of  electric  shock  through 
the  medifieval  intellects ;  it  roused  them  from  their 
stupor,  caused  them  to  think  for  themselves  instead 
of  remaining  mere  copyists,  simply  reproducers  of 
other  people's  ideas.  It  was  a  movement  that  pro- 
duced results  as  soon  as  it  got  going.  It  did  more : 
it  produced  revolutions,  not  merely  in  politics  and 
ecclesiastical  jurisdiction,  with  none  of  which  our  pre- 
sent inquiry  has  to  deal ;  but  in  art,  in  science,  in 
literature,  using  each  of  these  words  in  its  widest 
sense,  it  inspired  a  breath  of  originality. 

Take  the  subject  with  which  we  are  entirely  con-^ 
cerned.  Notwithstanding  that  the  lateen  had  been  in 
use  on  the  INIediterranean  ships  of  the  size  large  enough 
to  carry  cargoes,  usually  (but  not  always)  in  conjunction 
with  the  square-sail,  yet  until  the  time  of  the  Renais- 
sance, or  just  after,  the  galleys  of  Venice  had  con- 
tinued to  be  rigged  with  square-sails  in  a  manner  almost 
identical  with  that  of  the  ancient  galleys  of  Rome  and 
Greece.     But,  at  any  rate,  by  the  time  of  the  sixteenth 


IN    NORTHERN    EUROPE  47 

century,  as  we  know  from  existing  illustrations,  the 
lateen  replaced  the  old  square-sail,  and  became  the  re- 
cognised rig  of  the  long  ship  or  galley.  It  was  the  y 
spirit  of  the  Renaissance,  the  desire  for  considering 
things  as  they  are  and  not  as  they  have  always  been 
regarded,  that  caused  the  ^"enetian  seaman  to  weigh 
up  the  advantages  respectively  of  the  lateen  and  the 
square-sail,  just  as  later  on  he  estimated  the  worth  of 
the  former  again,  and  decided  in  favour  of  the  lug. 

The  Renaissance  began  in  Italy,  as  was  only  natural' 
seeing  what  its  past  history  had  been  and  having  regard 
to  its  progress  in  civilisation.  But  gradually  this  new 
influence  spread  northwards,  and  in  England  as  well  as 
in  other  countries  it  set  afoot  a  new  movement  of 
energy.  Amongst  other  results  it  caused  even  sea- 
faring men  to  pause  and  think  independently.  Was 
the  square-sail,  after  all,  the  most  suitable  rig  for  their 
craft  ?  They  had  never  wondered  before,  but  had 
taken  it  for  granted.  And  the  answer  to  their  inquiry 
is  shown  by  their  actual  results.  For  they  had  room  * 
for  their  square-rigged  craft  differing  but  little  from 
the  V^iking  vessels,  and  yet  they  wanted  something 
handier  and  more  suitable  for  their  rivers  and  inland 
navigation.  The  fishermen  and  traders  naturally  still 
held  to  the  practice  of  using  the  square-sail,  for  the 
reason  that  the  North  Sea,  with  its  hard  blows,  its 
general  freedom,  during  most  of  the  days  of  the  year, 
from  soft,  gentle  winds,  made  the  lateen-rig  utterly 
undesirable.  It  was  quite  out  of  the  question.  Un- 
handy as  the  square-sail  might  be,  especially  when 
entering  harbour,  yet  it  was  a  more  seaworthy  arrange- 
ment.^ 

For  inland  sailing,  or  even  for  estuary  work,  for  the 

1  Leslie,  in  his  Old  Sea  WinffS,  Ways,  and  Words,  makes  the  suggestion  that 
the  origin  of  the  cutter  or  sloop  was  when  the  lateener  was  noticed  to  have  the 
fore  part  of  her  sail  aback,  and  thus  it  may  have  occurred  to  some  ancient 
sailmaker  to  cut  a  lateen-sail  vertically  by  the  mast,  and  so  make  two  sails  out  of 
one,  giving  the  fore  part  a  sheet  to  itself.  This,  of  course,  is  pure  supposition, 
but  it  is  a  likely  theory. 


48     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

wide  reaches  of  the  Scheldt,  with  its  strong  tides  and 
tricky  channels,  its  shoals  and  sandbanks  ever  ready  to 
pick  up  an  unhandy  ship,  there  was  certainly  room  for 
a  better  rig,  and  so  tentatively,  at  first,  it  was  adopted. 
Before  long  it  was  universally  accepted  for  inland  work, 
for  ocean-going  ships'  boats,  and  finally  was  used  for 
large  craft  which  made  voyages  across  the  North  Sea 
and  down  the  English  Channel  and  elsewhere.  We 
shall  deal  in  detail  presently  with  the  earliest  fore-and- 
aft  rigs  that  can  be  traced,  but  as  to  the  question 
whether  the  north  Europeans  created  their  fore-and- 
aft  rig  out  of  their  own  brains  by  adapting  the  square- 
sail  of  their  sea-going  craft  to  suit  inland  navigation, 
or  whether  tliey  copied  slavishly  something  seen  in 
the  Mediterranean  or  Adriatic,  cannot  be  asserted 
definitely.  AVhat  seems,  from  the  evidence,  most 
plausible  is  that  the  suggestion  and  certain  of  the 
details  were  obtained  from  the  south,  but  that  the 
actual  carrying  out  of  the  idea,  together  with  most 
of  the  methods  employed,  were  of  northern  rather 
than  southern  origin.  To  be  precise,  it  would  seem 
that  the  seaman  of  the  north  realised  that  his  present 
ships  were  unhandy,  but  at  the  same  time  he  realised 
that  the  southern  craft  were  to  a  certain  extent 
superior  to  his  fishing  "  busses,"  because  the  former 
could  hold  a  better  wind  and  were  quicker  in  stays. 
At  the  same  time,  that  high  peak  and  enormous  length 
of  yard  in  the  lateen  convinced  him  that  however  suit- 
able these  might  be  in  fair  weather  they  were  not 
convenient  for  the  north  of  Europe,  and  would  be 
highly  dangerous  in  a  strong  tideway  and  a  hard  / 
wind.  But,  as  all  ships  and  all  rigs  in  all  times  and'^ 
countries  have  ever  been  a  compromise,  so  some  happy 
medium  had  to  be  discovered  between  the  seaworthy 
but  clumsy  square-sail  on  the  one  hand  and  the  speedy 
but  dangerous  lateen  on  the  other.  As  an  attempt 
to  weld  into  one  conformation  the  virtues  of  these 
two  dissimilar  types  you  have  the  fore-and-aft  rig  of 


IN    NORTHERN    EUROPE  49 

northern  Europe  to-day  if  you  first  make  a  certain 
allowance  for  the  modifications  and  improvements 
which  only  can  result  from  time  and  actual  experi- 
ence of  the  rig.  The  earliest  date  at  which  I  have 
been  able  to  find  any  evidence  of  the  existence  of 
the  fore-and-aft  rig  in  northern  Europe  is  the  year  ^ 
1475,  and  since  the  golden  summer  of  the  Renaissance 
is  covered  by  the  dates  1450-1500,  it  is  more  than 
likely  that  this  year,  which  happens  to  be  midway 
between  these  two  dates,  was  just  about  the  time 
when  the  new  idea  had  its  first  opportunity  of  taking 
definite  shape.  To  sum  up,  then,  it  is  reasonable  to  \r 
suppose  that  the  fore-and-aft  rig  in  northern  Europe 
was  first  introduced  somewhere  about  the  year  1475. 

But  it  must  not  be  supposed  for  one  moment  that 
the  square-sail  was  discarded  by  the  fisherman  or  the 
trader  either  then  or  centuries  after.  We  have  shown 
that  in  spite  of  its  defects  it  was  far  too  valuable  to 
be  left  ashore.  A  vessel  that  has  to  put  to  sea  or 
to  lie  to  her  nets  in  all  kinds  of  weather  must  primarily 
be  not  fast  or  handy  but  seaworthy.  Thus  the  square- 
sail  still  remained  in  the  North  Sea  as  it  had  done 
since  the  times  when  the  Scandinavians  first  introduced 
it  there.  AVe  have  ample  pictorial  evidence  that  the 
herring  -  drifters  of  the  Low  Countries  w^ere  rigged 
with  square-sails,  and  it  is  from  these  that  the  north 
European  fishing  luggers  evolved  and  continued  until 
the  ketch-rigged  smacks  began  to  oust  them.  But 
Scotland,  Sussex,  Cornwall,  and  the  Isle  of  Man  in 
the  United  Kingdom,  and  the  chasse-marces  of  France 
still  bear  witness  to  the  fact  that  not  all  fishermen 
prefer  the  cutter  or  ketch  to  the  lugger.  We  alluded 
just  now  to  the  common  bond  between  the  Oriental 
lugger  and  the  north  European,  but  the  resemblance 
is  not  so  much  through  the  latter  copying  directly 
from  the  former  as  owing  to  different  seamen 
arriving  at  the  same  conclusion  in  the  presence  of 
similar    problems.        In    other    words,    just    as    the 

D 


50     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

Egyptians  found  they  required  something  better  than 
the  square-sail,  and  evolved  such  a  sail ;  and  as  the 
Chinese  also  became  possessors  of  the  lugsail,  so 
the  English,  the  Dutch,  and  the  French  fishermen 
gradually  effected — quite  apart  from  the  cutter,  the 
sloop,  the  ketch,  the  yawl,  and  the  schooner  rig — an 
improvement  on  the  square-sail  which  they  call  the 
lug ;  and  since  it  preserves  some  of  the  defects  and 
some  of  the  virtues  of  the  square-sail,  it  is  yet  another 
instance  of  the  law  of  compromise. 

If  the  reader  will  now  turn  to  the  illustration  in 
Fig.  3,  after  an  artist  of  the  name  of  Elandts,  we  will 
begin  to  show  the  kinship  between  the  square-sail  and 
lug  of  the  North  Sea  fishermen  before  we  return  to 
discuss  in  detail  the  evolution  of  that  other  branch  of 
the  fore-and-aft  rig  which  has  among  its  descendants 
the  cutters  and  ketches  of  to-day.  The  painting  from 
which  this  craft  is  drawn  hangs  in  the  Municipal 
Museum  at  the  Hague.  The  Hague  picture  itself 
is  not  an  original,  but  a  copy  made  by  Cornells 
Elandts  as  far  back  as  the  year  1664.  The  original 
was  formerly  in  a  Scheveningen  church,  but  was  found 
to  be  in  so  bad  a  condition  that  it  was  impossible  to 
restore  it,  and  was  therefore  copied  as  stated.  The 
subject,  which  was  painted  by  a  contemporary  artist, 
shows  the  sea  and  shore  off  Scheveningen  in  the  year 
1570,  just  before  a  memorable  and  historic  tempest. 
On  the  beach  a  vessel  is  being  repaired  which  shows 
the  unmistakable  relation  that  exists  between  the 
hull  design  of  the  Dutchman's  ship  and  that  of  the 
Vikings.  The  stem  of  this  sixteenth  -  century  craft 
being  repaired  is  especially  akin  to  that  of  the 
modern  Dutch  tjalk  which  one  encounters  every- 
where in  Holland. 

But  to  return  to  the  sketch  before  us,  which  is  the 
most  interesting  portion  of  the  painting,  we  have  here 
a  sixteenth  -  century  "  haring  buys,"  or  rather  the 
prototype  of  the  "busche"  of  the  following  century. 


Fig.  3.— Schevbningen  Herring-Buss. 

This  shows  a  sixteenth-century  type  of  Dutch  fishing  craft  in  which  the  square- 
sail  was  still  used  previous  to  the  employment  of  the  lugsail.  (After  the 
picture  by  Elaudts  in  the  Municipal  Museum  at  the  Hague.) 


52     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

The  herring  industry  was  one  of  the  most  remunera- 
tive enterprises  of  the  Dutch  even  during  its  prosperous 
seventeenth    century :     so   remunerative    indeed    that 
any  interference  attempted  by  England    made   naval 
warfare  immediately  a  possibility.      The  reader  may 
be  perhaps  reminded  in  passing  that  one  of  the  prime 
causes    of    the    first    Anglo-Dutch  war  was   the   fact 
that   our  Charles   I.    had  enforced  his  prerogative  as 
Sovereign   of  the    Seas   by   demanding    the    sum    of 
£30,000  annually  from  the  Dutch  for  licences  to  fish 
in  the  Narrow  Seas.     This  will  give  some  idea  of  the 
vast  amount  of  wealth  that  the  Hollanders  must  have 
found  in   the  harvest   of  the  sea  every  year,  and  of 
the   large   fleets   of  herring-drifters   that   put   to    sea 
from  the  Dutch  ports.      And  it  was  in  the  summer 
of  the   year   1652,  when    the    first    real  beginning  of 
the    Dutch    war    took    place,    that    Blake,  who  had 
sailed  northwards  to  Scotland,  came  upon  a  big  fleet 
of  these  herring-men    fishing    off   Buchan    Ness    and 
captured  a  hundred  of  these  buss-ships. 
^     This  sixteenth-century  buss-ship  which  we  are  now 
considering  was    of    a    smaller  type   than  those  that 
were  to  follow,  but  it  exhibits  just  those  transitional 
features    between    the   square-sail  and  the   lugsail  of 
which  we   are   speaking.      The  ship   has   two   masts, 
consisting   of  a  mainmast   and   foremast,  the   former 
being   the  smaller   of  the  two,  and   the   main   being 
stepped  a  long  way  forward   of  the  stern.      On  each 
mast   is   set    a   square-sail  with    sheets  and  braces   as 
on  a  full-rigged  ship,  the  yard  being  kept  to  the  mast 
by  wooden  parrels. 

In  Elandts'  picture  one  of  the  three  men  is  at  the 
helm  whilst  the  other  two  are  busy  lowering  away 
canvas  preparatory  to  beaching  their  craft  on  the 
sandy  shore.  It  will  be  noticed  that  these  busses 
have  shrouds  to  support  the  masts,  and  that  a  forestay 
extends  from  the  top  of  the  mainmast.  In  the 
Elandts   picture    the   artist   has   been   so   anxious    to 


IN    NORTHERN   EUROPE  53 

show  the  men  in  the  act  of  stowing  the  mainsail  that 
he  has  not  been  able  to  work  into  the  drawing  the 
shrouds  on  the  port  side,  although  he  has  been 
careful  to  show  that  the  boathook  in  the  bows  is 
all  ready  for  use  as  soon  as  the  vessel  bumps  on  the 
shallows.  In  the  picture  in  Fig.  4,  which  was 
sketched  in  the  Boijmans  Museum,  Rotterdam,  from 
the  painting  by  Jacob  Bellevois,  we  see  a  couple  of 
sev^enteenth-century  busses,  of  greater  size  and  power 
than  those  of  the  preceding  picture.  Bellevois  was 
born  in  1621,  and  was  buried  in  September  of  1676, 
so  that  if  we  suggest  that  this  picture  was  painted 
about  the  year  1652  we  shall  not  be  far  wrong,  and 
shall  have  an  accurate  conception  of  the  kind  of 
vessels  which  Blake  surprised  off  Scotland.  There 
is  additional  probability  that  this  picture  was  painted 
about  the  year  1652,  for  at  that  time  Bellevois  was 
living  at  Rotterdam,  and  five  years  later  moved  inland 
to  Gouda. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  the  busses  have  now  become 
more  powerful  ships,  and  that  they  carry  a  mizzen  as 
well  as  main  and  fore.  If  we  were  to  take  away  the 
fore  and  mizzen  we  should  have  in  respect  of  rig  and 
hull  almost  an  exact  replica  of  the  Humber  keel  which 
is  so  familiar  a  sight  to  Yorkshiremen  and  those  who 
live  near  the  Trent.  The  buss — she  spelled  her  name 
with  all  sorts  of  variations  that  included  buys,  busche, 
buze,  and  buis — was  sometimes  called  a  flibot,  though, 
strictly  speaking,  the  vlie-boot  or  flibot  was  a  small 
"flute"  of  a  size  not  exceeding  100  tons  and  of  a 
round  stern.  The  flibot  proper  was  a  deep,  big- 
bodied  craft  lacking  both  foremast  and  topgallant- sail. 
A  flute,  or  as  she  was  sometimes  called,  a  pink,  was 
also  a  big-bellied  craft,  used  as  a  storeship  or  for 
transport  purposes.  She  was  a  three-masted  ship 
and  square-rigged,  except,  of  course,  for  the  lateen 
on  her  mizzen.  ^ 

But  the  buss-ship  as  we  here  see  her  was  square-v 


(a 


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ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     55 

rigged  without  topsails  or  topgallants  or  lateen.  She 
was  usually  of  about  62  feet  long  and  13  feet  beam 
and  8  feet  deep.  She  had  cabins  both  forward  and 
aft,  the  former  serving  for  tlie  galley.  These  ships 
were  commanded  by  a  master  or  "  patron " — as  the 
French  to-day  call  their  skippers,  if  you  care  to  look 
at  the  memorial  stones  to  those  fishermen  or  pilots 
who  have  lost  their  lives  off'  Calais — and  the  crews 
of  tlie  busses  were  provided  with  food  in  the  form 
of  biscuits,  dried  fish,  salt  butter,  and  oatmeal.  Some 
of  the  bigger  busses  measured  71  feet  long,  and  cost 
£2325  to  build,  not  including  the  heavy  ironwork. 
The  sails  were  of  Holland  cloth,  the  mainsail  with 
its  bonnets — which  were  laced  according  to  mediaeval 
fashion  along  the  foot  of  the  sail  after  the  manner  of 
the  modern  Norfolk  wherry — measuring  15  ells  long 
and  13  ells  wide.  The  foresail  with  its  bonnets  was 
12  ells  long  and  10  ells  wide,  whilst  the  mizzen  with 
its  bonnets  was  of- the  same  length  as  the  foresail  but 
one  ell  less  in  width.  It  will  be  observed  that  neither 
in  this  nor  the  Elandts  picture  are  leeboards  shown  to 
belong  to  these  craft.  The  usual  custom  for  the  buss 
was  to  sail  out  to  her  fishing-grounds  using  her  three 
sails,  or,  if  a  two-master,  with  her  main  and  foresail 
only.  Then  lowering  both  foremast  and  foresail, 
but  keeping  her  main  or  mizzen  up,  according  as 
to  whether  she  was  a  three-sticker  or  two,  she  rode 
to  her  herring-net,  precisely  as  a  Lowestoft  drifter 
to-day,  though  ketch-rigged,  lowers  her  main  and 
rides  to  her  nets,  or  the  Sussex  lugger  to  hers. 
The  photograph  of  the  picture  in  Fig.  5  by  Abraham 
Storck,  who  died  about  the  year  1710,  shows  a  couple 
of  small  busses  of  the  year  1683.  In  the  foreground 
one  is  lying  at  anchor  with  foresail  lowered  and 
mainsail  up,  whilst  astern  of  her  another  buss  is 
running  before  the  wind  under  mainsail  only.  This 
picture  is  hung  in  the  Mauritshuis  at  the  Hague. 

Now,  looking  at  these  buss-ships,  and  especially  at 


56    'ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

ithe  mainsail  of  the  vessel  to  the  right  of  the  picture  by 
^Bellevois,  one  can  readily  see  how  easy  was  the  transi- 
tion from  the  square-sail  to  the  lug.  The  two  sails 
have  a  very  great  deal  in  common.  Neither  has  a 
boom,  and  both  have  a  yard  which  is  slung  from  the 
mast.  But  there  is  this  important  difference,  that 
whereas  the  square-sail  is  slung  from  the  centre,  the 
yard  of  the  lugsail  is  suspended  at  a  point  about  one- 
third  or  a  quarter  of  its  length  forward  of  the  mast. 
The  yard  also,  instead  of  being  at  right  angles  to  the 
mast,  as  in  the  square-sail,  makes  a  much  smaller  angle 
with  the  mast,  varying  from  about  forty  degrees. 
Furthermore,  as  in  the  case  of  the  dipping-lug,  which 
is  much  used  by  our  fishermen,  the  tack  of  the  sail  is 
made  fast  some  distance  forward  of  the  mast.  And 
since  the  sail  has  to  be  hoisted  on  the  lee-side  of  the 
ship  in  order  to  get  the  best  advantage,  it  has  to  be 
lowered  on  each  tack  and  set  again  on  the  other  side. 
In  the  Bellevois  picture  the  tack  of  the  mainsail  has 
been  sheeted  forward  so  that  the  vessel  will  get  as 
close  to  the  wind  as  possible,  but  so  long  as  it  remains 
a  square-sail  and  has  not  those  features  of  the  lug  just 
mentioned,  there  will  be  a  difference  of  at  least  one 
point  in  the  sailing  qualities  of  the  square-sail  and  the 
lug,  and  the  advantage  will  be  in  favour  of  the  latter. 
Therefore,  by  the  not  very  elaborate  process  the  yard 
of  the  square-sail  is  braced  round,  the  tack  is  hauled 
down,  and  the  after  end  of  the  yard  becomes  peaked. 
Thus  the  square-sail  becomes  a  fore-and-after. 

I  have  not  thought  it  necessary  to  reproduce  more 
than  these  accompanying  illustrations  to  explain  how 
small  in  reality  is  the  alteration,  but  the  reader  who 
cares  to  pursue  the  subject  will  find  ample  pictorial 
evidence  in  the  works  of  the  great  Dutch  painters  of 
the  seventeenth  century,  especially  of  such  men  as 
those  already  mentioned,  as  well  as  Van  der  Velde 
and  Bakhuyzen.  The  Dutch  museums  teem  with  such 
paintings,  and  the  galleries  of  London  and  Paris  wiU 


IN    NORTHERN   EUROPE  57 

afford  probably  as  many  examples  as  will  be  required. 
In  the  next  sketch  in  Fig.  G,  which  is  taken  from 
a  model  in  the  Rijks  Museum,  Amsterdam,  we  see 
the  Dutch  equivalent  of  the  INIediterranean  lateen 
galley.  Here  there  is  no  hesitation  as  to  the  rig, 
and  the  lugsail  has  entirely  replaced  the  square-sail, 
but  a  niizzen  has  been  added  as  a  kind  of  after- 
thought, and  a  jib  too.  Very  characteristic  are  the 
pair  of  leeboards  on  each  side  and  the  unique  arrange- 
ment of  topsails.  So  as  to  clear  the  mast  the  topsail 
is  divided  into  half,  and  the  little  yard  on  the  after- 
half  is  very  characteristic  of  the  Dutchman,  who  loves 
these  small  spars  and  employs  them  whenever  he 
has  an  opportunity — as,  for  instance,  for  bending  the 
halyard  to  his  foresail  on  a  hoogarts,  as  we  shall  note 
later  on.  It  cannot  be  denied  that  this  model  before 
us,  with  her  guns,  her  chase-piece,  and  her  beak, 
betrays  the  influence  of  the  ^lediterranean  galley, 
even  though  the  lugsail  is  different  from  the  lateen. 
Hundreds  of  the  INIediterranean  galleys  rounded 
Ushant  and  came  up  the  English  Channel  in  the 
sixteenth  century.  But  they  were  never  popular 
with  our  own  seamen,  notwithstanding  that  Henry 
VIII.  had  some  built  for  his  navy  and  fitted  out  by 
imported  Venetians.  As  the  galley  contingent  of 
the  Armada  found,  the  chops  of  the  Channel  and  a 
capful  of  wind  made  them  singularly  unpleasant  craft 
for  those  who  had  to  work  in  them.  But  it  is  not 
too  much  to  claim  for  the  Dutch  craft  in  front  of 
us,  for  the  Deal  galley,  the  Sussex,  Cornish,  Manx, 
Scotch,  and  French  luggers,  that  there  is  found  in 
these  the  best  forms  of  craft  to  correspond  with  the 
galley  of  the  INIediterranean  and  of  southern  history. 

We  have  thus  witnessed  one  branch  of  the  develop- 
ment of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  in  nortliern  waters,  and 
we  can  now  proceed  to  watch  the  evolution  of  a  still 
more  interesting  type  which  eventually  brought  about 
the    cutter,   the   sloop,  the   ketch,  the   yawl,  and  the 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     59 

schooner.  Just  now  we  referred  to  the  date  1475  as 
being  in  all  probability  the  time  of  the  first  fore-and- 
afters  in  the  north.  I  have  arrived  at  this  date 
through  the  evidence  of  an  illustration  seen  in  the 
Island  of  Walcheren.  The  cutter  and  sloop  did  not 
come  about  with  one  step.  There  was  a  curious 
intermediate  stage  in  an  endeavour  to  obtain  a  com- 
paratively handy  rig  that  was  more  seaworthy  than 
the  lateen.     The  reader  is  invited  to  examine  closely 


Fig.  7.— An  Early  Sixteenth-century  Fore-and-Apter. 

This  vessel  had  a  spritsail,  as  seen,  but  no  headsail.     On  the  horizon  will 
be  seen  other  contemporary  craft  similarly  rigged. 


the  curious  little  illustration  ^vhich  is  herewith  pre- 
sented in  Fig,  7.  The  craft  in  the  foreground  has 
been  copied  faithfully  from  a  map  of  the  year  1527, 
but  it  is  practically  identical  as  to  rig  with  the  pic- 
torial evidence  belonging  to  1475.  A  similar  craft, 
with  exactly  the  same  rig,  is  to  be  found  on  the 
horizon  of  a  printed  illustration  to  an  Elizabethan 
book  printed  in  1587  recording  the  pomp  and  cere- 
mony of  the  homecoming  and  burial  of  Sir  Philip 
Sydney,  and  this  has  been  inserted  in  the  accom- 
panying sketch.  Furthermore,  in  the  Rijks  Museum, 
Amsterdam,  there  is  hidden  away  in  an  obscure,  dark 


60     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

corner  a  picture  which  bears  very  closely  on  our 
inquiry,  and  still  further  strengthens  our  testimony 
that  about  the  time  we  are  speaking  of  there  had 
come  into  being  a  new  kind  of  fore-and-aft  rig,  which 
consisted,  as  will  be  observed,  simply  and  solely  of 
one  spritsail.  There  was  no  jib,  there  was  no  boom, 
no  gaff.  The  mast  was  placed  very  far  forward  in 
the  eyes  of  the  ship,  and  the  one  sail  was  very  similar 
to  the  mainsail  of  a  modern  Thames  barge.  It  had 
a  sheet  as  well  as  a  vang  leading  from  the  peak,  and 
the  steersman  will  be  seen  to  hold  both  these  in  his 
hand.  The  shape  of  the  rudder  and  of  the  hull 
suggests  very  strongly  Holland  and  her  craft,  and  the 
spritsail  is  essentially  Dutch  by  origin. 

This  rig,  then,  was  a  kind  of  una-rig,  as  we  should 
nowadays  call  it,  and  with  the  sail  placed  so  far  for- 
w^ard  no  doubt  the  vessel  would  beat  to  windward 
after  a  fashion.  On  the  inland  waters  of  Holland 
one  still  finds  small  craft  rigged  like  this  vessel,  and 
I  remember  to  have  seen  such  boats  on  the  Hol- 
landische  Deep  near  Dordrecht,  and  also  on  the 
Amstel  a  few  miles  south  of  Amsterdam ;  but  in 
the  latter  case,  whilst  the  same  idea  was  carried  out, 
the  sprit  had  been  dispensed  with  and,  instead,  a  gaff 
and  boom  added. 

We  can  readily  understand  how  popular  this  rig  of 
1475-1527  and  onwards  became  for  small  craft,  because 
in  hard  squalls,  by  withdrawing  the  sprit,  the  sail  can  be 
at  once  taken  off  the  ship,  and  that  is  the  reason  why 
along  our  coast,  especially  on  the  south  and  west,  for 
open  sailing- boats  the  sprit  has  been  so  long  retained. 
To  take  the  two  first  instances  that  occur  to  my  mind, 
it  is  the  rig  of  the  Portsmouth  wherry,  as  well  as  of 
nine-tenths  of  those  little  craft  which  go  running  in 
and  out  of  Salcombe,  either  in  connection  with  the 
lobster-pots  or  solely  for  pleasure.  The  only  difference 
is  that  to  the  primitive  spritsail  there  have  been  added 
a  jib  as  well  as  a  mizzen,  which,  most  people  would 


IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE  61 

agree,  form   a  considerable  improv^ement  without  de- 
tracting from  the  value  of  the  rig  in  other  respects. 

But  to  come  back  for  a  moment  to  the  obscure 
painting  in  the  Rijks  INluseum.  The  incident  belongs 
to  the  2nd  of  January  1565,  when  an  enormous  block 
of  ice  was  carried  by  the  current  in  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  to  the  mole  of  Delfshaven.  In  this  picture  will 
be  seen,  brought  up,  a  perfect  fleet  of  these  one-sail 
vessels,  but  with  canvas  stowed.  They  are  evidently 
weather-bound,  and  are  anxious  to  put  to  sea.  The 
picture  is  well  worth  the  careful  study  of  any  sailing- 
man,  because  it  shows  that  in  the  olden  days  there  was 
in  active  use  a  rig  that  is  snugger  but  not  altogether 
unlike  the  wherry-rig  of  the  Norfolk  Broads,  if  we 
gave  to  it  a  sprit,  a  lower  peak,  and  less  expanse  of 
canvas. 

Thus,  then,  we  have  a  chain  of  evidence  beginning 
in  1475  and  extending  through  the  years  1527,  1565, 
and  1587,  to  show  that  a  kind  of  una-rig  was  in  vogue, 
and  that  the  triangular  headsail  was  not  yet  used  in 
conjunction  therewith,  though  before  the  end  of  the 
century  it  had  been  adopted,  as  we  shall  presently  see. 
It  was  obvious  that  this  addition  should  be  made  sooner 
or  later,  for  when  beating  to  windward  the  necessity  for 
some  canvas  forward  to  pull  the  ship's  head  round  on 
to  the  other  tack  would  impress  itself  on  the  mind  of 
the  sailor ;  and  in  order  that  it  might  be  of  such  a  size 
and  shape  as  not  to  foul  the  forestay  supporting  the 
mast,  it  was  made  identical  with  that  fore-triangle  in 
the  bows  of  the  boat.  Thus  a  halyard  was  fitted  and 
the  sail  was  hoisted  up  the  forestay  just  as  we  have  it 
to-day  on  our  cutters.  The  addition  of  the  bowsprit 
and  jib  came  as  a  later  development,  and  these  we  shall 
deal  with  in  due  time ;  but  what  we  are  trying  to^ 
impress  on  the  reader  for  the  moment  is  the  fact  that 
primarily  the  fore-and-after  was  a  una-rig,  and  that  it 
was  only  as  an  afterthought  that  the  triangular  foresail 
was  added  thereto.       The  sketch  of  this  original  rig 


62     ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

that  we  have  alluded  to  is  from  a  map  of  the  world  by 
Robert  Thorne.  The  inscription  reads  that  "  This  is 
the  forme  of  a  JNlappe  sent  in  1527  from  Siuill  in 
Spayne  by  maister  Robert  Thorne,  marchaunt,  to  Doctor 
Ley,  Embassadour  for  King  Henry  the  8,  to  Charles  the 
Emperour.  The  imperfection  of  which  mappe  may  be 
excused  by  that  tyme  :  the  knowledge  of  Cosmographie 
not  then  beyng  entred  among  our  Marchauntes,  as  nowe 
it  is." 

In  the  Abbey  at  Middleburg  there  hang  on  the 
walls  of  the  Grand  Hall,  where  the  Provincials  of  Zee- 
land  meet  twice  annually,  some  magnificent  examples 
of  sixteenth-century  tapestry,  which  show  certain  in- 
teresting naval  battles,  including  the  defeat  of  the 
Spaniards  by  the  Dutch  at  Bergen-op-Zoom,  and  the 
defeat  of  the  Spaniards  at  Flushing.  The  date  of  the  '7 
latter  incident  was  April  23,  1573 ;  and  we  are  able  to 
see  from  these  designs  that  the  fore-and-aft  rig  was 
employed  by  the  Dutch  in  their  naval  warfare  of  that 
time.  Here  again  we  find  ships  rigged  una-wise  with 
the  mast  placed  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  vessel  and  no 
headsails  whatsoever.  In  the  battle  of  Bergen-op-Zoom 
some  of  the  Dutchmen  are  ketch-rigged,  the  mizzen 
being  a  lateen,  but  these,  of  course,  are  bigger  craft. 
The  Spaniards  are  ship-rigged.  As  regards  the  former, 
the  rig  was  as  follows :  Forward  of  the  lateen-mizzen 
came  the  sprit-mainsail,  then  the  staysail,  then  a  highly 
steeved  bowsprit ;  but  as  yet  the  jib  has  not  been  intro- 
duced, for  the  bowsprit  is  still  used  for  the  convenience 
of  making  fast  the  foretopmast  -  stay  by  means  of 
spreaders,  into  which  the  lower  end  of  the  forestay 
separates.  It  was  only  after  the  bowsprit  had  been 
in  vogue  on  fore-and-afters  for  some  time  that  it 
occurred  to  the  seventeenth-century  sailors  that  they 
might  make  use  of  it  by  setting  another  sail  thereon,  out- 
board, of  a  shape  similar  to  the  staysail.  The  mizzen- 
lateen  and  the  bowsprit  were  of  course  copied  from 
the  contemporary  full-rigged  ships,  and  it  is  curious  to 


IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE  68 

find  that  although  there  was  no  jib,  yet  below  the 
bowsprit  there  was  carried  a  square  water-sail  of  the 
"  Jimmy  Green  "  type.  Some  of  these  ketches  were 
given  square  -  sails,  square  -  topsails,  and  square  -  top- 
gallants on  the  mainmast. 

From  yet  another  source  in  Middleburg,  depicting 
a  naval  fight  of  February  28,  1573,  I  find  the  same 
details  as  to  rig,  namely,  the  una-rig  of  the  one  type 
and  the  spritsail  ketch  of  the  other,  amply  confirmed. 
At  times,  even  when  a  ship  was  not  provided  with  a 
staysail,  but  remained  still  una-rigged,  the  bowsprit, 
steeved  up  into  the  air  at  much  the  same  angle  as  the 
later  3Iary  seen  in  our  frontispiece  has  it,  was  employed 
solely  for  the  above-mentioned  purpose  of  spanning 
out  the  foretopmast-stay,  so  as  to  stay  the  mast  more 
effectively.  But  from  numerous  pictures  and  prints 
which  I  have  carefully  examined,  it  would  seem  that 
when  these  una-rigged  craft  were  brought  up  the  sprit 
still  remained  aloft,  though  the  sail  itself  was  taken  off 
entirely,  and  not  brailed  up  as  the  modern  Thames 
barge  retains  it  when  at  anchor  or  by  the  quayside. 
And  even  in  Turner's  early  drawings  this  same  practice 
will  be  found  to  be  continued. 

Among  the  Dutch  at  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury and  the  early  part  of  the  seventeenth  it  was  quite 
a  favourite  rig  for  the  smaller  sailing  craft  to  have  this 
spritsail  and  staysail,  with  a  bowsprit  sticking  its  nose 
high  up  into  the  air.  The  forestay  was  employed  for 
setting  the  foresail,  and  the  bare  foretopmast-stay  led 
down  not  to  the  extreme  outer  end  of  the  bowsprit,  as 
we  should  naturally  have  expected ;  but  when  it  was 
about  two-thirds  of  the  way  down  it  ended  in  a  block, 
and  thence  proceeded  a  pair  of  spreaders,  one  of  which 
was  made  fast  several  feet  from  the  outer  end  of  the 
"  bolte-sprit,"  whilst  the  other  was  aflftxed  somewhere 
about  the  centre  of  that  spar.  Sometimes  one  finds 
the  spreaders  are  more  elaborate,  and  instead  of  being 
merely  a  pair  below  the  block,  they  become  pairs  of 


64     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

three  each,  or  six  altogether.  But  the  smallest  craft  of 
all,  whilst  they  necessarily  retain  the  forestay,  the  stay- 
sail, and  sprit-mainsail,  dispense  with  bowsprit  and  fore- 
topmast-stay.  For  how  many  years  the  una-like  rig 
survived  I  cannot  say,  but  I  have  found  that  as  late  as  the 
date  1674  it  was  not  yet  discarded,  although,  of  course, 
the  staysail  was  then  employed  in  many  other  craft ; 
and  by  this  time,  since  leeboards  had  begun  to  be 
employed,  they  were  found  of  assistance  in  making  the 
una  type  a  better  sailer  on  a  wind. 

Let  us  now  turn  our  attention  for  a  while  to  con- 
sider a  matter  connected  with  a  daring  Dutch  enterprise 
belonging  to  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century.  Europe 
had  got  the  exploration  fever  pretty  badly,  and  since 
Holland  by  its  long  years  of  the  fishery  industry,  as 
well  as  over-seas  trading,  had  gradually  raised  up  a  fine 
race  of  seamen  and  an  equally  fine  fleet  of  ships,  it  was 
certain  that  sooner  or  later  the  Dutch  would  become 
great  explorers  and  voyagers.  They  had  it  in  mind 
that  instead  of  going  through  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  down 
the  southern  Atlantic,  round  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope 
or  the  Horn,  a  way  through  to  China  could  be  effected 
by  the  Nort-east  Passage.  A  society  was  formed  by 
the  enthusiasts  of  Zeeland  for  the  purpose  of  under- 
taking this  voyage,  and  permission  was  received  from 
the  States-General  and  Prince  Maurice.  A  squadron 
of  four  ships  was  fitted  out  under  the  command  of 
William  Barentsz,  one  of  the  most  experienced  of 
Dutch  seamen. 

A  very  great  impetus  had  been  given  to  maritime 
enterprise  by  the  publication  of  a  book  dealing  with  the 
East  by  Jan  Huygen  von  Linschoten.  The  latter, 
while  resident  at  Lisbon,  had  amassed  a  large  number 
of  invaluable  data  regarding  the  East — its  harbours, 
trade  winds,  configuration,  and  so  on.  He  also  pro- 
duced a  number  of  charts  and  maps  for  the  benefit  of 
those  intent  on  voyaging  thither.  There  is  a  very 
interesting  copy  of  this  work  in  the  British  Museum 


Fig.  8. 


Fore-and-Aftp:rs 


p.  30 


This  illustration  is  taken  from  a  Dutch  volume  of  travels  published  in  the  year  1598, 
and  shows  the  influence  of  the  Egyptian  nuggar  with  the  old  square  sail  so  modified  as 
to  become  a  kind  of  luijsail. 


Fig-.  9. 


The  Dutch  Polar  Expedition 


p.  06 


In  this  illustration,  which  belongs  to  the  year  15Q9,  will  be  seen  the  two  craft 
belongint:  to  Barentsz's  ship.  The  sloop  is  seen  in  the  foreground  and  rigged  with 
sprit-mainsail  and  staysail.  She  has  a  bonnet  laced  to  the  foot  of  the  former,  and  has 
vangs  from  the  peak. 


IN   NORTHERN    EUROPE  65 

printed  in  1596,  and  an  English  translation  of  two  years 
later.  The  first  northern  expedition  was,  however, 
fruitless,  and  returned  home.  A  second  was  fitted  out, 
and  that  came  back  to  the  Maas  also  a  failure.  But  in 
the  year  1596  a  third  enterprise  was  undertaken  again 
under  Barentsz.  The  squadron  consisted  of  only  two 
ships  this  time,  which  were  equipped  not  by  any 
Government  but  by  the  munificence  of  the  citizens  of 
Amsterdam.  On  the  10th  of  May  the  two  vessels  set 
forth,  crossed  over  the  North  Sea,  passed  by  the  Faroe 
Isles,  and  eventually  discovered  Spitzbergen.  In  due 
time  they  arrived  at  Nova  Zembla,  which  had  been 
already  discovered  by  our  English  navigator  Willoughby 
in  1553.  One  of  the  two  Dutch  ships  became  separated 
from  the  other,  and  presently  Barentsz's  vessel  became 
embayed  in  the  drifting  ice,  nor  could  she  be  released. 

We  need  not  waste  the  reader's  time  by  detailing 
all  the  troubles  and  trials  which  now  followed.  They 
have  been  happily  preserved  for  posterity  by  one  who 
accompanied  the  party.  Winter  was  approaching,  and 
finally  the  crew,  despairing  of  ever  saving  the  ship, 
which  was  groaning  and  heaving  ominously  under  the 
pressure  of  the  ice,  forsook  her,  and  with  the  driftwood 
which  they  were  lucky  enough  to  discover,  built  them- 
selves a  large  hut  ashore,  with  many  an  exciting  time 
in  between  through  the  too  eager  intrusions  of  the 
Polar  bears,  and  with  much  toil  consequent  on  having 
to  drag  their  stores  up  from  the  ship  by  hand-sleds. 

The  cold  was  terrible ;  their  clock  refused  to  go,  so 
that  they  could  only  tell  the  time  by  means  of  their 
hour-glass,  and  thus  distinguish  day  from  night  in  the 
darkness  of  the  north.  Their  beer  froze  solid  in  the 
casks,  and  with  many  an  inconvenience  and  hardship 
they  continued  to  inhabit  their  dwelling  from  the 
middle  of  October  to  the  following  June.  It  was  now 
that  they  determined  to  make  a  fierce  effort  to  get  to 
the  south  once  more.  Daylight  having  returned,  and 
their  big  ship  being  still  held  fast  by  the  ice,  they  had 

E 


66     ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

only  the  opportunity  left  to  them  of  putting  to  sea  in 
the  two  open  boats  which  they  had  carried  on  board 
the  vessel  that  had  brought  them  north.  One  of  these 
boats,  then,  was  forthwith  dug  out  of  the  snow,  but  she 
was  frail  enough  in  all  conscience  for  her  forthcoming 
voyage,  so  the  men  set  to  work  with  axes,  saws,  ham- 
mers, and,  with  the  planks  taken  from  the  roof  of  their 
hut,  raised  the  craft's  gunwales  so  as  to  give  her  greater 
freeboard  and  cause  her  to  be  more  seaworthy.  This 
was  the  larger  of  the  two  boats,  and  was  rigged  after 
the  manner  of  the  busses — that  is  to  say,  with  tw^o 
masts,  the  one  right  forward  in  the  bows  of  the  ship, 
the  other  about  midships,  and  on  each  mast  one  square- 
sail. 

The  second  boat  was  a  smaller  craft — a  shallop  or 
sloop,  as  the  Dutchmen  called  this  type — and  this,  too, 
was  strengthened  and  given  an  increased  amount  of 
freeboard.  But — and  this  is  the  point  to  which  I  wish 
to  call  especial  attention — she  was  not  rigged  like  a 
buss,  but  with  one  mast,  a  sprit-mainsail  and  a  foresail 
working  up  and  down  the  forestay.  The  illustration 
(Fig.  9),  which  is  taken  from  the  account  printed  at 
Frankfort  in  the  year  1599,  shows  these  two  ships' 
boats  under  way.  The  sloop  has,  it  will  be  noticed,  a 
bonnet  laced  on  to  the  foot  of  the  mainsail,  and  vangs 
leading  down  from  the  peak.  The  craft  herself  has  a 
transom  stern,  a  cut-away  bow,  and  she  has  also  been 
decked  over  and  a  cabin  top  given  her  before  leaving 
the  Arctic  regions,  for  prior  to  this  the  craft,  as  is 
noticeable  from  one  of  the  earlier  pictures  in  the  Dutch 
book,  was  a  mere  open  boat  and  in  general  character 
almost  identical,  at  any  rate  above  water-line,  with  the 
Yorkshire  cobble  of  to-day,  about  which  craft  we  shall 
speak  on  a  later  page. 

These  two  small  craft  succeeded  in  effecting  the 
explorers'  escape.  Unhappily  Barentsz  died  before 
reaching  home,  but  after  enduring  many  more  hard- 
ships— after  having  occasionally  to  drag  their  craft  over 


IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE  67 

fields  of  ice,  and  to  fight  with  Polar  bears — they  arrived 
at  Kola  in  I^apland,  where  the  following  day  they  found 
that  other  Dutch  sliip  which  had  started  out  originally 
from  Amsterdam  in  their  company.  They  went  on 
board,  and  having  no  further  use  for  the  two  boats 
that  had  brought  them  so  well,  they  carried  them  with 
due  ceremony  and  veneration  to  the  Merchant's  House, 
or  Town  Hall,  where  they  dedicated  them  to  the 
memory  of  their  long  voyage  of  400  leagues,  over  a 
tract  never  traversed  before  by  such  tiny  craft.  They 
then  started  for  home  in  the  big  ship,  and  reached 
Amsterdam  again  on  1st  November,  by  which  time  they 
had  been  long  since  given  up  for  dead.  Their  arrival 
was  a  most  dramatic  and  welcome  surprise,  and  roused 
the  liveliest  enthusiasm  among  the  citizens  of  this 
northern  capital. 

The  little  sloop,  or  sloepe,  in  front  of  us  was  clinker 
built,  and  had  no  leeboards.  She  had  three  shrouds  to 
her  mast  on  either  side,  as  well  as  lee-runners.  The 
sprit  to  the  mainsail  was  supported  by  block  and  tackle, 
very  much  as  in  the  modern  Thames  barge,  one  block 
being  on  the  sprit  and  another  at  the  mast-head.  But 
before  we  proceed  any  further,  let  us  endeavour  to  clear 
up  any  misconception  that  may  exist  in  the  mind  of  the 
reader  in  regard  to  the  terms  employed.  It  is  an 
unfortunate  historical  fact  that,  throughout  the  history 
of  most  ships  from  very  early  times,  sailor-men  have 
been  remarkably  careless  in  nautical  nomenclature. 
Such  words  as  barks,  gallics,  wherries,  galleasses,  and 
brigantines  have  been  regularly  applied  to  totally  dif- 
ferent types  of  vessels.  So  also  pinnaces,  cutters,  and 
sloops  may  mean  either  sailing  craft  of  good  size  or 
merely  ships'  boats.  Therefore  we  shall  do  well  to 
clear  the  ground  in  regard  to  the  fore-and-aft  sloop 
before  we  proceed  any  further. 

I  am  led  to  the  conclusion  that  there  can  be  little 
doubt  but  that  the  Dutch  sloepe  originally  signified  a 
ship's  boat  such  as  was  used  for  laying  out  a  kedge 


68     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

anchor,  and  for  keeping  up  communication  between 
the  big  ship  and  the  shore  when  there  was  no  harbour 
for  the  vessel  to  enter.  The  Dutch  masters  of  painting 
give  us  plenty  of  instances  of  such  ships  arriving  home 
off  a  sandy  beach  from  the  Dutch  Indies  or  elsewhere, 
dowsing  topsails,  and  landing  their  distinguished  pas- 
sengers on  to  the  beach  in  the  vessel's  sloop.  But  as 
the  big  ocean-going  ships  became  bigger  still,  so  the 
size  of  the  sloop  increased,  until  they  were  something 
far  from  insignificant.  Instead  of  being  mere  oared 
craft,  they  were  so  heavy  that  they  were  fitted  with 
mast  and  sail  (as  seen  in  the  accompanying  Polar 
illustration  of  Barentsz's  sloop),  and  were  thus  an  in- 
dependent type  of  sailing  craft.  Thus  it  was  that  the 
word  sloop  was  transferred  from  designating  the  boat 
to  signify  the  rig,  and  thanks  to  the  early  colonisation 
by  the  Dutch  of  that  portion  of  America  which  we 
speak  of  nowadays  as  New  England,  the  word  sloop 
took  firm  root  in  America,  and  is  still  used  even  when 
an  English  sailing  man  would  use  the  word  cutter. 
Into  this  point  of  distinction  we  shall  look  at  a  later 
stage.  But  for  the  present  we  may  content  ourselves 
with  remarking  that  the  English  cutters  and  the 
American  sloops  of  this  twentieth  century  are  directly 
descended  from  the  Dutch  ex-ships'  boats,  which  were 
called  sloepes. 

The  Dutch  referred  to  the  craft  also  as  a  "  chaloep  " 
or  "  boot,"  and  an  early  seventeenth-century  authority, 
written  in  French  and  printed  at  Amsterdam,  gives 
the  dimensions  of  a  sloop  as  42  feet  long,  with  9  feet 
beam.  In  the  case  of  a  two-masted  square-rigged  sloop, 
as  in  the  larger  sloop  seen  in  the  Barentsz  illustration, 
the  mainmast  was  24  feet  high,  the  yard  12|  feet  long, 
and  the  sail  had  21  feet  in  hoist.  The  foremast  was 
15j  feet,  the  foreyard  11  feet,  and  the  hoist  of  the  fore- 
sail 10|^  feet.  This  same  authority  also  defines  the 
sloops  as  small  vessels,  some  of  which  have  decks, 
whilst  others  had  not. 


IN   NORTHERN    EUROPE  K^69 

Partly,  then,  owing  to  the  many  miles  of  inland 
waterways,  of  such  important  thoroughfares  as  the 
rivers  Maas,  Scheldt,  and  Rhine :  partly  because  of 
the  number  of  ports  on  the  Zuyder  Zee  and  North 
Sea,  and  the  immense  amount  of  traffic  which  could 
be  carried  on  solely  by  means  of  water-borne  convey- 
ances :  partly  because  of  the  incentive  given  by  the 
sloops  of  the  great  ships  of  the  Dutch  Indies,  there 
was  every  encouragement  to  build  numbers  of  craft 
of  a  moderate  size  that  could  carry  market-produce 
and  passengers  from  the  outlying  villages  to  such 
towns  as  Amsterdam,  Dordrecht,  and  tlie  Zuyder  Zee 
ports,  which  could  be  capable  of  surviving  the  nasty, 
short,  steep  waves  which  are  characteristic  of  the  broad 
estuaries  and  contingent  seas  of  the  I^ow  Countries. 

There  is  an  interesting  print  in  the  Rijks  Museum, 
Amsterdam,  which  is  dated  1565,  and  contains  a  full- 
rigged  ship,  on  w^hose  stern  is  the  date  of  1564.  To 
the  right  of  this  big  vessel  is  a  fore-and-after,  w^hich  is 
rigged  as  follows.  She  has  the  usual  fore  (stay)  sail, 
the  mainsail  has  a  sprit,  and  she  has  also  a  square  top- 
sail as  in  the  full-rigged  ships.  She  also  shows  a  bobstay 
to  support  her  bowsprit.  The  staysail  just  mentioned 
is  set  as  a  spinnaker,  for  she  is  seen  running  before 
the  wind.  Her  mainmast  is  placed  well  forward  in 
the  ship,  and  the  sprit-mainsail  has  the  usual  sheet  and 
vangs.  But  she  is  ketch-rigged,  for  she  has  a  mizzen- 
mast  on  which  a  lateen  is  set.  The  hull  is  entirely 
different  from  those  sloops  we  have  been  considering, 
for  it  resembles,  as  far  as  ever  a  fore-and-after  could, 
the  contemporary  naval  architecture  of  the  ocean-going, 
full-rigged  vessels.  Thus  the  high-charged  stern,  with 
its  towering  poop-deck,  through  which  the  mizzen-mast 
passes,  strikes  the  modern  eye  as  very  peculiar  with 
such  a  rig  as  this.  But  it  shows  that  a  date  over 
twenty  years  before  the  Armada  there  were  in  exist- 
ence not  merely  fairly  small  sloops  for  coasting  and 
inland  purposes,  but  fore-and-aft  ketches  of  consider- 


70     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

able  size,  which  could  keep  tlie  sea  independent  of  the 
shore  for  a  long  period,  and  be  able  to  ride  out  bad 
weather  with  impunity.  There  was  still  no  jib  to  this 
type  of  craft,  although  the  steeved  bowsprit  is  very 
clearly  shown ;  but  we  can  sympathise  with  the  Dutch- 
men of  that  time,  and  appreciate  their  point  of  view 
when  they  found  that  for  such  moderate  voyages  as 
across  the  North  Sea  to  England,  and  for  trade  between 
the  Hanseatic  ports,  and  a  good  deal  of  intricate  navi- 
gation in  and  out  of  harbours  and  rivers,  a  bold  fore- 
and-aft  rigged  vessel  of  moderate  tonnage,  so  as  to  be 
able  to  carry  large  cargoes,  was  in  many  ways  superior 
to  the  three  or  four-masted  full-rigged  ship  witFi  her 
ultra-seaworthiness  but  accompanying  unhandiness. 

Some  idea  of  the  fore-and-aft  ships  in  vogue  about 
the  year  1600  may  be  obtained  from  an  old  Dutch 
print  of  about  that  date,  which  is  here  reproduced  in 
Fig.  10.  At  one  time  the  authorship  was  attributed  to 
Johannes  Saenredam,  who  lived  at  Zaandam  from  1565 
to  1607.  Recent  criticism  has  cast  some  doubt  on  this 
supposition,  but  if  it  is  not  Saenredam's  work  it  is 
by  one  who  flourished  about  the  end  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  In  the  foreground  will  be  seen  a  character- 
istic Mediterranean  galley  with  her  long,  low-lying 
hull,  her  beak  and  enormous  yards,  on  which  were  set 
the  lateen  sails.  You  may  perhaps  wonder  for  the 
moment  what  a  Southern  galley  was  doing  in  the 
port  of  Amsterdam,  until  you  recollect  the  years 
when  Spain  and  Holland  were  so  closely  bound 
together.  The  galley  was  not  beloved  by  the  Dutch- 
men, or  they  would  have  continued  to  build  this 
type,  but  for  a  long  time  Holland  was  under  Spanish 
tyranny,  and  so,  naturally  enough,  the  Spanish  galley 
came  northwards  from  its  own  sunny  waters  to  the 
fogs  and  cold  of  the  Low  Countries. 

Sailing  about  in  the  same  picture,  in  wonderful 
contrast  to  this  slim,  narrow  type  of  vessel,  are  to  be 
seen  the  Dutch  fore-and-afters  with  their  ample  beam 


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IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE  71 

but  comparatively  short  length.  To  the  right  of  the 
galley,  also  in  the  foreground,  is  to  be  seen  a  large 
sloop,  the  staysail  of  which  is  just  visible.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  the  outermost  end  of  the  bowsprit  is  clear 
of  any  foretopmast  stay,  as  we  remarked  on  another 
page  was  the  custom,  and  the  square  water-sail,  with 
its  yard  and  sheets,  as  in  the  full-rigged  ships,  will  be 
observed  below  the  bowsprit  of  this  sloop.  It  is 
noticeable  that  three  out  of  the  four  sloops  are  fitted 
with  leeboards,  so  we  have  the  fact  established  that 
these  date  back  at  any  rate  to  about  the  year  IGOO. 
As  to  when  they  first  came  into  use  cannot  be  ascer- 
tained, though  it  is  possible  that  it  was  sometime 
during  the  sixteenth  century.  An  authoritative  work 
published  in  Amsterdam  about  a  century  later  furnishes 
us  with  some  interesting  details  as  to  the  leeboards, 
which  undoubtedly  had  their  origin  in  Holland,  whence 
they  were  adopted  eventually  in  England,  and  still 
survive  in  that  Dutch-like  creature  the  Thames  barge, 
to  which  we  have  alluded  more  than  once.  The  Dutch 
word  for  leeboard  is  zwaard,  which  also  means  a  sword 
for  military  purposes.  The  Dutch  word  zwaar  is  an 
adjective,  signifying  heavy. 

The  French  word  for  leeboard  then  in  use  was 
semelle,  which  means  a  shoe.  The  French  verb, 
deliver,  means  to  drift,  as  in  the  case  of  a  ship. 
Consequently  the  French  synonym  for  leeboard  is 
still  to  this  day  semelle  de  derive,  which  exactly 
explains  the  use  of  the  leeboard,  as  being  for  the 
prevention  of  a  ship's  drifting  to  leeward.  The 
Dutch  authority  just  mentioned  says  that  the  zwaar d 
is  an  assemblage  of  three  planks  placed  the  one  over 
the  other  and  "cut  in  the  shape  of  the  sole  of  a 
shoe " ;  and  in  many  of  the  Dutch  craft  of  to-day 
that  is  exactly  the  shape  in  which  the  leeboard  has 
remained,  the  "heel"  or  narrow  part  of  the  "shoe" 
being  the  part  which  is  pivoted  at  the  side  of  the 
hull,  while  the  broad  or  "toe"  end  is  let  down  into 


72     ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

the  water.  That  straight  form  of  the  leeboard  with 
which  we  are  most  famihar,  and  is  especially  noticeable 
in  the  modern  hotter,  is  of  later  evolution. 

We  learn  from  our  authority  that  these  ztvaards  or 
swords  were  used  by  such  craft  as  the  belanders  {i.e. 
coasters  by  the  land)  and  hulks  so  as  to  enable  them 
to  sail  on  a  wind,  the  usual  custom  in  those  days,  as 
to-day,  being  to  have  one  suspended  on  each  side  of  the 
vessel.  When  they  wdsh  to  sail  on  a  wind,  continues 
the  same  explanation,  whether  to  starboard  or  port,  the 
zwaard  which  is  to  leeward,  sous  le  vent,  is  lowered 
into  the  water,  and  so  prevents  the  ship  from  drifting — 
deriver — while  the  other  leeboard  remains  hanging  on 
the  opposite  side.  The  belanders,  it  may  be  explained, 
were  a  species  of  small  craft,  very  flat  on  the  floor,  and 
in  respect  of  sails  and  masts  resembled  the  English 
hulk  or  "  heu."  The  belander's  deck  began  to  rise 
at  the  bows  and  continued  up  to  the  poop.  The 
largest  belanders  were  of  eighty  tons,  and  were  manned 
by  a  crew  of  three  or  four,  being  chiefly  used  as 
cargo  carriers,  and  their  leeboards  thus  enabled  these 
bulky  creatures  to  sail  a  la  houline — that  is  to  say,  on 
a  wind.  After  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century 
leeboards  were  seldom  seen  at  sea,  except  on  a  few 
boiers,  a  few  light  galiots,  and  some  small  herring 
busses,  although  during  the  eighteenth  century  they 
were  in  general  use  for  the  navigation  of  internal 
waterways.  And  I  have  myself  been  aboard  a 
Dutch  topsail  sea-going  schooner  of  about  a  hundred 
tons  which  carries  a  pair  of  enormous  zwaaj'ds,  though 
there  are  plenty  of  modern  craft  of  greater  tonnage 
using  these  "  shoes "  up  and  down  the  canals  of 
Holland.  As  to  the  length  of  the  leeboard,  the  old 
rule  was  that  it  should  be  twice  the  depth  of  the 
ship,  but  the  Zeland  and  Frisian  leeboards  were 
somewhat  long  and  straight. 

It  is  a  little  curious  at  first  sight  that  the  Dutch, 
with  all  their  inventive  ability  for  matters  connected 


IN   NORTHERN    EUROPE  73 

with  the  ship,  with  all  their  wonderful  labour-saving 
devices,  never  seemed  to  adopt  the  centreboard  as  it 
has  been  used  in  both  En^rland  and  America  for 
shallow  waters.  It  was  not  the  case  that  the  centre- 
board had  not  been  thought  of  in  those  days,  for  I 
have  read  in  an  entertaining  little  book,  published  in 
England  in  the  year  1578,  a  suggestion  for  "a  thing 
to  be  letten  downe,  and  to  be  wound  up  againe" 
through  the  ship's  keel,  so  as  "  to  make  a  ship  to 
draw  or  goe  but  a  little  way  into  the  water,  and  yet 
to  saile  well  by  the  wind,"  and  so  "  not  suffer  the 
Ship  to  fall  to  Leewardes."  If  that  is  not  the  exact 
idea  of  the  centreboard  I  know  not  what  it  can  be. 
But  it  is  most  probable  that  the  Dutch  never  heard 
of  this  English  idea,  and  that  if  they  did  they 
preferred  not  to  approve  thereof,  for  the  sufficient 
reason  that  they  did  not  wish  to  interfere  with  the 
internal  arrangement  of  the  hull  or  diminish  its  cargo- 
carrying  capacities.  And  there  is  the  further  pro- 
bability that  in  navigating  such  waters  as  the  Scheldt, 
where  shoals  are  plentiful  and  there  was  every  chance 
of  getting  picked  up  by  the  sand  now  and  again,  they 
would  rather  not  risk  the  nuisance  of  having  the 
centreboard  jammed  in  the  case.  My  own  opinion 
on  the  matter  is  that  this  centreboard  suggestion  of 
1578  was  rather  a  theory  than  a  usage,  and  it  seems 
to  me  most  likely  that  the  whole  idea  of  leeboards 
came  to  Holland  through  some  traveller  who  had 
noticed  them  on  the  Chinese  craft,  where  they  had 
been  in  use  for  centuries. 

The  interesting  picture  which  we  have  now  to 
consider  (Fig.  11)  was  painted  by  Arent  Arentzen, 
who  was  born  in  Amsterdam  in  1586,  and  died  in  that 
city  somewhere  before  October  of  1635.  We  may 
suggest,  therefore,  that  the  painting  was  made  soon 
after  the  beginning  of  the  seventeenth  century.  In 
the  foreground  a  couple  of  fishermen  are  hauling  in 
to   the   shore   their  seine   net,  as    I   have   seen   them 


74     ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

doing  on  the  river  Maas,  when  they  blow  a  little 
horn  to  warn  passing  craft  from  getting  foul  of  the 
meshes.  Those  curious  caps  are  still  worn  by  that 
fine  race  of  seamen,  who  come  in  their  botters  from 
the  Zuyder  Zee,  from  the  Island  of  Marken  or  Urk, 
and  after  passing  through  the  great  Orange  Locks 
into  the  Eye,  sail  through  Amsterdam  and  out  again 
into  the  North  Sea  at  Ymuiden,  and  go  to  gather 
the  harv^est  of  the  deep  where  waves  are  frequently 
treacherous  and  short,  and  bad  weather  comes  rolling 
up  with  all  too  little  warning. 

But  the  most  interesting  feature  of  the  picture 
consists  in  the  two  sloops  which  are  seen  in  the  back- 
ground. The  draughtsmanship  of  these  is  a  little 
crude,  but  it  is  none  the  less  intelligible.  The  illus- 
tration is  a  little  difficult  also  to  reproduce,  but  in  the 
original  one  can  clearly  see  the  lacing  which  keeps  the 
mainsail  to  the  mast.  This  is  another  feature  which 
is  very  Dutch,  and  after  looking  at  some  hundreds  of 
modern  Dutch  fore-and-afters,  I  do  not  remember  to 
have  seen  a  single  one  that  used  the  hoops  we  use  in 
England  and  America  for  keeping  the  lufF  of  the 
mainsail  to  the  mast.  The  advantage  quickly  mani- 
fests itself  when  leaving  a  crowded  lock,  and  you 
want  to  get  a  little  way  on  the  ship,  but  not  too 
much  You  can  easily  trice  up  the  tack,  and,  further- 
more, instead  of  allowing  one  hoop  to  be  doing  more 
work  than  the  others,  and  so  pulling  the  sail  out  of 
shape,  you  can  by  means  of  the  lacing  distribute  the 
strain  evenly  over  the  whole  lufF. 

A  yacht's  trysail  is  laced  to  the  mast  in  much  the 
same  way  as  the  Dutchmen  of  yesterday  and  to-day 
lace  their  mainsails.  It  will  be  noticed,  however, 
from  this  picture  that  there  is  a  good  deal  of  "  drift " 
between  the  lufF  of  the  sail  and  the  mast,  and  this 
defect  will  be  found  also  in  the  Dutch  hoogarts  when 
we  come  to  speak  of  her.  On  the  contrary,  the  Dutch 
barge  has  the  lufF  of  her  mainsail  right  close  up  to 


IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE  75 

the  mast.  Very  interesting,  too,  is  the  foremost  ship 
in  Arentzen's  picture,  which  shows  tluit  even  in  those 
days  the  germ  of  the  modern  spinnaker  idea  was 
prevalent.  The  httle  sloop  is  running  dead  before 
the  wind,  and  the  mainsail  has  been  eased  off  in  the 
usual  manner.  But  the  headsail  has  been  let  go  at 
the  tack,  and  brought  aft  so  as  to  "goose-wing"  the 
craft.  A'^our  modern  rater  does  much  the  same  thing 
when  she  is  racing  without  spinnaker,  with  the  excep- 
tion that  she  usually  has  a  light  boom  along  the  foot 
of  the  foresail. 

We  come  now  to  another  interesting  development 
of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  which  is  well  worth  our  atten- 
tion. It  is  generally  but  erroneously  thought  that 
the  schooner  developed  directly  from  the  cutter  by  \^^ 
merely  causing  the  addition  of  another  mast.  This  '' 
is  not  so.  The  schooner  really  existed  before  the 
cutter,  and  contemporary  with,  or  but  little  later, 
than  the  advent  of  the  sloop.  But  there  was  just 
this  difference,  that,  whereas  the  schooner  of  to-day 
has  triangular  headsails,  the  first  schooners  had  not. 
In  the  illustration  (Fig.  12)  will  be  found  a  somewhat 
curious  looking  craft  of  the  third  decade  of  the  seven- 
teenth century.  This  has  been  sketched  from  the  large 
picture  on  the  staircase  of  the  Dordrecht  Museum, 
which  was  painted  by  Adam  Willaerts  in  the  year 
1629.  It  shows  in  a  curious  way  a  survival  of  the 
former  Spanish  influence  ;  for  practically  here  are  a 
couple  of  lateen  sails,  but  without  masts,  since  the 
lateen  yards  are  used  to  serve  the  dual  purpose  of 
mast  and  yard. 

By  the  employment  of  the  two  sails  we  have  the 
germ  of  the  schooner  idea — the  expressed  desire  to 
produce  a  handy  rig  for  a  lengthy  vessel  without 
having  recourse  to  the  square-sail.  In  the  present 
instance  this  is  little  more  than  an  open  boat,  but 
under  the  contemporary  influence  there  is  a  high 
transom   stern,   with  its   typical    decoration    and    the 


ORIGIN   OF   THE    FORE-AND  AFT   RIG     77 

very  Dutch-like  hatchet  rudder,  to  say  nothing  of 
the  large-sized  ensign,  which  never  seems  absent 
from  these  ancient  and  many  of  the  modern  craft  of 
the  Netherlands.  I  do  not  know  that  sucli  a  craft  as 
this  is  used  to-day  in  Holland.  Certainly  the  stern 
would  be  quite  different,  but  it  is  curious  that  in  the 
same  port  of  Dordrecht  I  chanced  one  day  to  see 
coming  in  out  of  the  strong  tideway  of  the  Oude 
Maas  into  the  Wollewevers  Haven  an  open  boat  with 
half  this  rig.  That  is  to  say,  she  had  her  one  sail 
bent  to  the  one  spar  which  acted  as  mast  and  yard 
combined.  I  watched  her  subsequently  turn  to  wind- 
ward, and  she  seemed  to  sail  remarkably  well. 

But  a  decided  advance  on  the  schooner  idea  is  to 
be  seen  in  the  illustration  in  Fig.  13,  which  has  been 
sketched  from  a  picture  by  a  master  of  the  Dutch 
School  in  the  Boij man's  Museum,  Rotterdam,  The 
whole  picture  is  entitled  "  The  Arrival  at  Rotterdam 
of  the  Market- Barge  between  Dordrecht  and  Rotter- 
dam." The  market-barge  itself  will  be  shown  in 
another  illustration,  since  it  has  been  deemed  better, 
for  the  purpose  of  enabling  us  to  get  at  the  detail, 
to  detach  each  of  these  ships  from  the  composition 
of  the  original,  and  to  study  them  separately.  From 
the  character  of  the  Rotterdam  buildings  seen  in 
the  picture  it  has  been  thought  that  the  date  is 
1642,  but  the  name  of  the  artist  is  not  known. 

This  strange-looking  craft  is  a  yacht.  She  has  a 
couple  of  masts,  one  of  which  is  stepped  as  far  forward 
as  ever  it  could  be  placed.  It  has  no  shrouds,  but 
is  supported  by  means  of  a  forestay,  which  is  sweated 
home  tight  by  means  of  a  purchase.  The  sail  is  a 
peculiar  one.  It  has  no  boom  on  its  foot,  wliich  is 
cut  more  like  a  forestaysail  of  a  sloop.  Both  this 
and  the  mainsail  have  a  bonnet  laced  to  the  canvas 
for  fine  weather,  as  will  be  observed.  The  foresail  is 
laced  to  the  mast  in  the  usual  manner  and  is  hoisted 
by  means  of  a  halyard,  but   I  cannot  ascertain  exactly 


Fig.  13.— The  Origin  op  the  Schooner  (Second  Stage). 

This  is  from  a  Dutch  picture  of  about  1642  and  shows  a  yacht  of  that  period. 
From  this  rig  there  was  to  evolve  later — in  America — by  the  addition  of  a 
triangular  head-sail,  the  modern  schooner  rig. 


ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     79 

whether  the  forestay  and  tlie  halyard  are  not  one 
and  the  same  in  this  case.  It  seems  very  probable 
that  the  one  arrangement  has  been  made  to  serve 
both  purposes.  Those  who  are  familiar  with  the 
well-known  Bermuda  rig  will  be  interested  to  notice 
the  extraordinarily  small  gaff  which  both  sails  in  this 
yacht  possess.  Even  in  the  Dutch  craft  of  to-day 
the  gaff  is  usually  much  smaller  than  the  length  we 
are  accustomed  to  in  England,  though  some  of  the 
more  modern  craft  of  the  Lowland  waterways,  as 
for  example  the  trading  tjalks,  seem  to  be  discarding 
the  older  idea. 

Many  a  sailing  man  has  often  expressed  wonder- 
ment why  the  Dutchman  who  favours  the  short  gaff 
has  done  so  for  hundreds  of  years.  After  sailing 
through  Holland  in  an  English  yacht,  after  ex- 
periencing the  different  kinds  of  navigation  which 
these  Hollanders  have  regularly  to  undergo ;  after 
watching  their  craft  sailing  for  trade,  racing  for 
pleasure,  in  fair  weather  and  foul,  I  fully  realise  now 
that  reason  which  has  actuated  the  Dutch  skipper 
to  favour  the  short  gaff  so  enthusiastically.  It  is 
just  one  detail  in  that  whole  scheme  which  tempted 
him  to  adopt  the  fore-and-aft  rig  at  all.  The 
advantage  of  the  short  gaff  is  not  that  it  will  give 
him  increased  speed  :  on  the  contrary,  he  is  diminishing 
his  sail  area  very  considerably.  But  that  is  not  such 
an  essential  in  canals  and  narrow  waterways  as  handi- 
ness.  Suppose  it  is  a  squally  day  or  the  wind  is 
steadily  strong  as  it  comes  over  the  long  stretches  of 
low-lying  land.  As  you  sail  along  through  an  avenue 
of  short  trees,  or  perhaps  through  the  centre  of  a 
little  town  or  village  with  stumpy  houses  on  either 
side,  the  lower  part  of  your  sail  is  blanketed  while  the 
upper  part  catches  the  full  force  of  the  squall  or  strong 
breeze  that  comes  rushing  across  over  the  windmill- 
dotted  country.  The  consequence  is  that  your  ship 
becomes  less  handy,  is  not  under  proper  control ;   and 


80     ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

at  the  most  awkward  moment,  when  the  narrow 
space  of  an  opened  bridge  is  being  negotiated,  or 
when  passing  other  vessels  in  a  confined  bend  of  the 
river  where  the  strong  tide  runs  stronger  still,  you 
may  find  that  the  long  gaff  will  receive  a  little  pufF 
and  give  the  steersman  a  sudden  anxiety. 

Again,  during  his  voyage  from  one  town  to  another 
— say  perhaps  he  is  carrying  a  cargo  from  Amsterdam 
that  has  come  into  that  port  from  the  Dutch  colonies 
— ^the  inland-sailing  tjalk  loads  up  from  the  steamer 
and  is  bound  for  some  town  in  the  south  of  Holland, 
or  even  further  still,  perhaps  to  Antwerp.  On  the 
way  he  will  have  all  sorts  of  seamanship  to  perform 
and  different  kinds  of  navigation  along  narrow  canals, 
broad  rivers,  perhaps  up  an  estuary  four  miles  in 
width,  and  a  fog  to  make  his  work  the  more  difficult. 
But  during  these  trips  one  regular  activity  wdll  con- 
sist in  negotiating  the  locks  along  part  of  the  route. 
Now,  to  take  a  heavy  sailing  craft  inside  properly, 
to  carry  just  enough  way  on  as  "would  not  break 
even  an  eggshell,"  as  the  saying  is ;  to  enter  quietly 
these  crowded  basins,  perhaps  full  of  sailing  botters, 
haaks,  tjalks,  a  couple  of  steel  motor  cargo- carriers 
or  a  steamship — all  this  requires  not  merely  a  great 
deal  of  skill  to  avoid  doing  damage,  but  necessitates 
a  certain  amount  of  handiness  in  rig.  It  is  just 
here,  then,  that  the  short  gaff  is  so  useful.  The 
greatest  sail  area  is  at  the  lower  half  of  the  mainsail 
and  the  smallest  is  at  the  top ;  and  when  the  time 
comes  to  lower  away,  the  canvas  comes  down  with  a 
run,  there  is  no  heavy  gaff  to  go  swinging  and 
swaying  about.  It  just  comes  plumb  down,  and  the 
sail  stows  itself  in  parallel  lines.  Even  on  the  modern 
Dutch  yachts  a  mainsail  is  not  stowed,  as  the  English 
yacht's  hand  performs  his  work  by  first  taking  the 
leach  and  laying  it  forward  along  the  boom.  On  the 
contrary,  the  Dutchman's  mainsail  piles  itself  up  in 
so  many  layers  when  the  halyard  is  let  go. 


IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE  81 

To  come  back  to  our  illustration,  it  will  be 
noticed  that  instead  of  having  shackles  the  halyards 
are  attached  by  means  of  curved  hooks.  The  main- 
sail is  loosefooted  and  is  sheeted  in  the  usual  way 
with  a  block  at  the  end  of  the  })oom,  but  the  fore- 
sail will  have  to  be  trimmed  at  each  tack,  though 
it  is  possible  that  sooner  or  later  a  wooden  or  iron 
horse  was  used,  just  as  in  our  present-day  barges. 
The  solid  rubbing-strake  which  is  seen  here  as  on 
most  of  the  craft  of  the  Netherlands  is  very  neces- 
sary when  the  vessels  have  frequently  to  squeeze 
their  way  into  crowded  locks  or  to  spend  much  of 
their  time  alongside  quays  and  wharves.  The  high 
stern  is  again  copied  from  the  ocean-going  craft, 
a  fashion  that  took  centuries  to  die  out ;  and  among 
other  details  it  will  be  seen  that  the  vessel  boasts 
of  cabin  and  a  cabin-top.  As  this  is  one  of  the 
earliest  records  of  a  yacht — a  "sloepe"  as  she  would 
have  been  called  in  those  days,  regardless  of  her 
rig — she  is  well  worthy  of  the  amount  of  attention 
which  the  reader  has  been  asked  to  devote  to  her. 
One  need  only  add  that  it  required  but  a  very 
mild  form  of  transition  for  the  subsequent  alteration 
to  turn  this  two-masted  vessel  into  a  schooner  by 
providing  her  first  with  a  big  jib  and  by  stepping 
the  masts  further  aft ;  secondly,  and  later  on,  by 
giving  her  a  smaller  jib  but  also  a  staysail  in  place 
of  one  large  headsail.  How  this  came  about  we 
shall  describe  in  another  chapter. 

But  in  the  same  seventeenth-century  original  from 
which  this  sloepe  has  been  copied  there  is  another  fore- 
and-after  of  that  time,  which  has  also  been  sketched 
and  here  reproduced  in  Fig.  14.  This  shows  the  Dord- 
recht-to-Rotterdam  market-barge  with  her  passengers 
coming  in.  The  wind  not  being  favourable,  two  of  her 
crew  are  quanting  while  the  helmsman  carefully  keeps 
the  rudder  amidships.  The  details  of  the  running-gear 
and  the  sails  are  easily  discernible.      There  is  of  course 

P 


Fig.  14. — Dutch  Market-Babge. 

This  also  belongs  to  the  1642.     There  is  no  bowsprit  to  this  sloepe-rigged 
craft,  but  she  has  a  sprit,  mainsail,  and  staysail. 


ORIGIN    OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     83 

no  bowsprit ;  and  in  a  country  where  so  much  lock- 
work  and  intricate  saihng  has  to  be  done,  who  would 
blame  the  Dutch  for  dispensing  with  the  bowsprit  ? 
To-day  it  is  true  that  this  spar  is  much  more  frequent, 
but  it  is  fitted  with  suitable  gear  to  enable  it  quickly  to 
be  hauled  up  out  of  harm's  way.  Nevertheless,  it  is 
always  getting  damaged  from  one  reason  or  another. 
The  worst  accident  I  saw  was  when  a  big  steel  sailing- 
craft  was  emerging  from  Gouda  sluis  into  the  river 
Ijsel,  that  flows  south  for  a  few  miles  and  then  joins  the 
JNIaas,  to  find  its  way  through  Rotterdam  into  the  North 
Sea.  This  barge  was  unable  to  check  her  way  enough 
as  she  came  out  of  the  lock,  but  took  charge,  narrowly 
avoided  colliding  with  the  heavy  traffic  waiting  to  lock 
in,  and  crashed  into  the  opposite  shore  where  the  bow- 
sprit ended  its  life's  work. 

The  other  accident  which  comes  back  to  me  was 
when  a  cluster  of  most  a  dozen  different  kinds  of  craft, 
including  ourselves,  a  couple  of  Dutch  yachts,  several  big 
haaks,  and  some  tjalks,  had  taken  shelter  in  a  bottle- 
necked  little  harbour  between  Dordrecht  and  the  North 
Sea.  By  the  time  we  had  all  found  berths  in  this  little 
haven  there  was  no  more  room  for  any  other  craft  to 
get  much  shelter.  Those  big  bowsprits  became  a 
terrible  nuisance  as  one  vessel  after  another  came 
running  in  and  let  go  his  anchor  prior  to  swinging 
round  ;  and  before  we  were  all  squared  up  in  an  orderly 
manner  at  least  one  Dutchman  had  suffered  damage. 
The  bigger  vessels  must,  of  course,  set  jibs,  and  so 
cannot  dispense  with  these  great  spars,  but  we  cannot 
be  surprised  that  the  smaller  craft  of  the  hoogarts  and 
hotter  types  hesitate  to  set  their  bowsprit  until  outside 
of  the  inland  waterways  and  in  the  sea. 

The  staying  of  the  mast  in  this  market- barge  before 
us  is  a  little  strange  and  contrary  to  custom  :  for  the 
shrouds  of  the  rigging,  instead  of  being  abaft  the  mast, 
are  a  long  way  forward.  The  runner  which  comes 
down  from  the  throat  of  the  sail  and  leads  through  a 


84    ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

hole  on  the  quarter  just  forward  of  the  hole  where 
the  vang  comes  through  is  fitted  with  a  purchase  and 
has  three  blocks.  The  forestay  is  tightened  to  the 
stem-head  by  means  of  a  purchase  also.  The  sprit  is 
supported  in  its  centre  by  a  tackle  from  the  throat,  but 
the  peak  is  also  sustained,  as  will  be  seen.  A  short  line 
from  the  latter  ends  in  a  block.  Through  this  is  rove 
another  line,  one  end  of  which  is  made  fast  to  the 
mast-head,  while  the  other  leads  through  another  block 
fastened  to  the  mast  some  distance  above  the  throat, 
and  so  leads  down  to  the  deck.  The  lufF  of  the  sail  is 
again  observed  to  be  laced  to  the  mast. 

One  very  curious  feature  of  Dutch  craft,  which  still 
survives,  is  the  curved  ensign  staff.  Other  countries 
usually  set  them  at  an  angle  leaning  over  the  stern,  but 
the  staff  itself  is  a  perfectly  straight  spar.  In  Holland 
the  yachts  almost  always  have  them  curving  outwards, 
sometimes  even  in  a  more  exaggerated  manner  than  is 
seen  in  the  present  picture.  But  although  a  flag  is 
here  seen  at  the  peak,  and  is  so  shown  in  innumerable 
old  masters  and  existing  prints,  yet  this  practice  is  now 
chiefly  confined  to  the  Dutch  yachts.  Three  other 
minor  points  are  worth  pointing  out.  The  leeboards 
are  somewhat  shoe-shaped  in  this  sketch,  though  not 
unduly ;  and  following  the  accepted  practice  on  the 
contemporary  ocean-going  ships,  the  anchors  are  stowed 
outboard  and  not  on  deck.  Notwithstanding  that  the 
barge  has  a  good  rubbing-strake,  she  has  got  out  those 
sausage-shaped  wooden  fend-ofFs  which  were  such  well- 
known  features  of  this  time.  In  regard  to  the  hull  in 
this  picture,  as  in  many  another :  in  the  Dutch  hulls  of 
yesterday  and  of  to-day  no  one  can  fail  to  recognise  the 
obvious  descent  of  the  Dutch  naval  architecture  from 
that  of  the  Viking  ship.  The  bows,  the  stern,  and  the 
under-water  lines  of  the  Lowland  craft  have  indeed 
been  modified  to  suit  local  conditions  and  special  pur- 
poses, but  there  is  still  obvious  the  very  near  relation- 
ship ;    and  when  we   compare  the  Scandinavian  pilot 


IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE  85 

craft  of  to-day  with  a  contemporary  Dutch  tjalk  the 
family  likeness  is  no  less  apparent. 

The  manner  of  lowering  the  mainsail  in  case  of  a 
squall  or  when  brought  up  is  well  shown  in  Fig.  15. 
This  is  a  reproduction  of  the  picture  by  Jan  Josephsz 
van  Goyen  which  hangs  in  the  Mauritshuis  at  the 
Hague.  Van  Goyen,  who  was  about  sixty  years  old  at 
the  time,  painted  this  in  the  year  1G55,  the  year  before 
his  death.  To  the  left  of  the  picture  there  is  a  fore-and- 
after  by  the  quay.  From  this  we  see  that,  to  stow 
mainsail,  brails  were  not  employed  as  the  Thames  barge 
has  them  to-day,  but  the  sprit  was  fitted  with  a  block 
at  its  heel  through  which  a  line  was  led.  By  slack- 
ing away  this  line  the  sprit  was  allowed  to  swing  up, 
and  the  peak  could  be  lowered — partially  in  case  of  a 
temporary  squall,  or  altogether  for  taking  sail  off  the 
ship.  A  fleet  of  tjalks  is  seen  running  up  one  of  the 
Dutch  rivers  on  the  right  of  the  picture.  The  flags 
just  now  noted  will  be  seen  conspicuous  at  both  mast- 
head and  peak.  The  vangs  and  other  details  have 
already  been  alluded  to,  so  that  we  need  not  now  refer 
to  these. 

We  have,  then,  been  able  to  witness  not  merely  the  U' 
evolution  of  the  early  fore-and-aft  rig  in  the  south,  but 
its  firm  adoption  in  the  north  of  Europe.  We  have 
seen  the  inauguration  and  propagation  of  a  species  of 
rig  infinitely  more  suited  for  the  sea  that  touches  the 
shores  of  the  Netherlands  as  well  as  for  traversing  its 
inland  waters.  We  have  observed  the  Hollander  gradu- 
ally feeling  his  way  towards  producing  the  ideal  rig  for 
smaller  sailing  craft,  and  we  have  watched  step  by  step 
the  improved  devices  which  he  has  invented  as  time  and 
experience  suggested  to  him  new  ideas  and  improved 
methods.  We  have  been  able  to  adduce  actual  con- 
firmation of  this  from  existing  pictorial  evidence.  All 
the  time  both  the  hull  and  the  rig  were  under  the 
influence  of  the  full-rigged  ship.  But  this  was  only 
natural,  and  cannot  be  wondered  at ;  for  the  sea  experi- 


r 


86    ORIGIN   OF   THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

ence  of  these  sailor-men  had  been  gained  either  from 
those  big  vessels  which  fought  with  the  Spaniards  and 
voyaged  to  the  Dutch  colonies,  or  else  it  had  been 
obtained  from  those  fleets  of  herring-busses  which  from 
time  immemorial  had  been  fishing  in  the  waters  of  the 
North  Sea.  But  as  soon  as  they  devoted  their  serious 
attention  to  a  consideration  of  the  ideal  type  of  craft 
required,  firstly  for  the  canals  and  rivers,  and  secondly 
for  short  sea  voyages,  these  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
century  seamen  and  shipbuilders  brought  into  being  a 
rig  and  type  of  craft  that  were  not  far  from  ideal  for 
the  service  that  was  required  of  them.  It  is  sufficient 
proof  how  reasonable  and  effective  these  creations  were, 
how  nearly  perfect  they  were  in  character,  by  the  fact 
that  our  cutters,  our  ketches,  our  yawls,  our  yachts, 
fishing-smacks  and  pilot  craft  have  continued  all  this 
time  to  follow  the  lines  first  enunciated.  Even  if  we 
make  allowances  for  the  modification  of  a  good  many 
small  details,  yet  it  is  surprising  to  find  how  much  we 
owe  to  the  shipmen  of  the  Low  Countries. 

But  we  have  not  yet  seen  the  full  extent  of  our 
indebtedness,  and  must  now  proceed  to  watch  the 
further  development  of  the  rig  in  the  hands  of  those 
ingenious  people  who  rose  in  so  short  a  time  to  become 
such  a  mighty  maritime  nation  that  they  had  none  to 
rival  them.  Comparatively  brief  though  the  Dutch 
pre-eminence  was,  yet  it  was  a  brilliant  period  in  nauti- 
cal matters  and  in  the  production  of  great  masters  of 
painting.  England  had  too  many  domestic  troubles  of 
her  own  during  that  period  to  think  much  of  the  new 
rig.  She  had  barely  settled  down  after  the  Spanish 
wars  than  the  anxieties  of  the  time  of  James  I.  cul- 
minated in  the  Civil  Wars  and  the  beheading  of  Charles. 
All  this  time  the  Hollanders  had  been  going  ahead  in 
their  triumphal  march  of  maritime  progress,  until  the 
time  came  for  them  to  clash  with  England,  and  eventu- 
ally to  suffer  by  the  encounter.  But  before  their  retro- 
gression occurred  the  Dutch  had  done  much  for  the 


IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE  87 

science  of  naval  architecture,  and  brought  into  being  a 
type  that  was  destined  to  be  apphiiided  by  generations 
of  seamen,  professional  and  amateur,  in  many  parts  of 
the  world,  but  especially  in  those  ports  which  touch 
the  North  Sea,  the  English  Channel,  and  the  North 
Atlantic. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  even  before  the  end  of  the 
sixteenth  century  there  were  some  fore-and-afters  built 
in  England,  though  I  have  not  been  able  to  find  any 
definite  and  detailed  records  of  this.  Brixham,  which 
was  to  become  famous  for  its  fore-and-aft  rigged  fishing 
fleet,  has  been  instanced.  But  England  was  far  too 
busy  with  her  bigger  fleet  to  pay  any  great  attention  or 
to  lend  much  encouragement  to  such  vessels.  She  had 
not  the  same  personal  interest  that  Holland  with  her 
many  miles  of  inland  waters  possessed.  She  was  much 
more  concerned  with  the  building  and  fitting  out  of 
those  vessels  which  went  sea-roving  to  lay  in  wait  for 
the  Spanish  treasure  ships,  and  so  enable  the  English 
promoters  to  return  home  with  their  wealth,  purchase 
fine  houses  and  estates,  and  lay  the  foundations  for 
future  family  prestige.  Some  others  were  content  to 
follow  the  more  peaceful  pursuit  of  fishing  off  our 
coasts  or  off  Newfoundland  ;  but,  as  we  know  from 
contemporary  documents,  this  was  sometimes  anything 
but  a  paying  job. 

Holland,   however,  had  no  choice  in  her  destiny.v^ 
She  had  to  find  some  sort  of  small,  handy  vessel  for 
her  home  waters,  and  thus  she  did  so. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE    DEVELOPMENT    OF    THE    FORE-AND-AIT    RIG    IN 

HOLLAND 

IT  is  a  curious  fact  that  the  subject  of  the  sea  and 
its  ships  figures  with  a  much  rarer  frequence  in  the 
history  of  painting  than  we  should  have  imagined. 
Historically  speaking,  marine  painting  is  but  an  inferior 
branch  of  seascape  art.  If  one  goes  back  through  the 
centuries  and  traces  the  progress  of  painting  and 
sculpture,  it  is  only  on  the  rarest  occasions  that  one 
finds  any  allusion  to  the  sea.  Here  and  there  on 
some  existing  Roman  reliefs  the  subject  is  occasionally 
found,  and  further  back  still  in  Egyptian  art  there  are 
even  numerous  representations  of  their  contemporary 
craft :  yet  these  were  in  most  cases  rather  connected 
with  religious  manifestations  than  exhibiting  intention- 
ally aesthetic  pleasure. 

When  we  come  to  the  birth  and  growth  of  art  in 
Italy,  and  examine  the  schools  of  painting  in  that  and 
other  countries,  we  find  a  keen  disappointment  that 
the  sea  should  have  been  so  thoroughly  neglected. 
Occasionally  such  inland  waters  as  lakes  and  rivers  are 
introduced  merely  as  backgrounds  for  the  main  subject 
of  the  picture,  and  here  and  there  will  be  found  in  the 
distance  a  suggestion  of  the  sea  and  of  a  ship,  often  but 
crudely  depicted,  and  that  by  an  artist  who  obviously 
had  neither  the  knowledge  of  nor  any  sympathy  with 
the  sea.  It  is,  indeed,  not  until  we  come  to  Holland, 
and  not  until  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  that  we 
find  the  sea  obtaining  that  recognition  at  the  hands  of 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     89 

art  which  it  undoubtedly  deserves  as  one  of  the  greatest 
forces  which  nature  manifests  in  a  visible  and  pictorial 
form.  That  marine  painting  should  spring  from  Hol- 
land is  explicable  when  we  remember  that  it  arose 
contemporaneous  with  the  rise  of  the  Dutch  as  a  great 
marine  power.  Those  interesting  and,  to  every  sailing- 
man,  fascinating  galleries  full  of  V^an  der  X^'eldes,  Van 
Goyens,  Beijerens,  Verschuiers,  Storcks,  Pompes,  Van 
der  Capelles,  Bakhuizens,  and  many  anotlier  marine 
artist  are  invaluable,  not  merely  as  works  of  art  that 
can  never  be  repeated,  not  merely  for  their  subtleties 
of  atmosphere  and  light  and  shade,  but  for  the  careful 
details  which  are  preserved  to  us  of  the  shipping  of  the 
period.  No  one  can  dare  to  express  opinions  on  the 
ships  of  those  days  unless  he  has  taken  the  trouble  to 
study  them  as  depicted  in  these  wonderful  old  masters. 
There  are  some  who  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to 
underrate  the  Dutch  school,  and  certainly  it  is  but 
natural  that  the  mind  should  revolt  against  the  de- 
pressing influence,  the  dullness,  and  even  the  coarseness 
of  many  a  Teniers  and  his  fellow  craftsmen.  But  in 
regard  to  the  painting  of  portraits  and  of  marine  subjects 
it  is  different.  Here  was  a  nation  of  seamen  encouraging 
the  best  of  its  artists  to  find  their  inspiration  in  the  sea 
and  those  ships  which  had  made  Holland  so  powerful 
and  so  wealthy.  And  as  we  can  see  from  the  admirable 
examples  which  time  has  handed  down  to  us,  these 
gifted  masters  did  their  best  to  commemorate  on  canvas 
the  achievements  of  the  naval  architects  and  shipbuilders 
of  the  time.  The  fishing  craft,  the  yachts,  the  trading 
ships,  the  men-of-war :  at  anchor,  under  way,  in  a  flat 
calm,  in  a  nasty  short,  choppy  sea,  in  gales  of  wind, 
in  whole-sail  breezes  :  with  strong  light  effects,  with 
delicate  reflections  on  the  placid  water,  with  terrible 
storms  and  shipwrecks  and  high  seas  and  perilous 
waves :  in  harbour,  on  canals,  on  meres,  with  rich 
golden  sunsets  flooding  the  whole  composition,  in  early 
morning  light — in  fact  in  every  aspect  the  Hollanders 


90  THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

depicted  every  kind  of  floating  vessel,  from  the  open 
boat  to  the  man-of-war. 

And  so,  just  because  when  Holland  was  at  its  highest 
stage  of  worldly  power  her  artists  and  her  shipping  were 
also  at  their  best,  so  in  this  chapter  we  shall  continue 
to  draw  upon  these  pictorial  representations  in  order  to 
assist  us  in  our  study.  In  spite  of  Ruskin's  well-known 
antipathy  to  Dutch  painting,  we  shall  yet  find  both 
instruction  and  interest  in  these  masters.  '*  It  is  not 
easily  understood,"  wrote  Ruskin,  "  considering  how 
many  there  are  who  love  the  sea,  and  look  at  it,  that  Van 
der  Velde  and  such  others  should  be  tolerated.  Foam 
appears  to  me  to  curdle  and  cream  on  the  wave  sides, 
and  to  fly  flashing  from  their  crests,  and  not  to  be  set 
astride  upon  them  like  a  peruke ;  and  waves  appear  to 
me  to  fall,  and  plunge,  and  toss,  and  nod,  and  crash 
over,  and  not  to  curl  up  like  shavings;  and  water 
appears  to  me,  when  it  is  grey,  to  have  the  grey  of 
stormy  air  mixed  with  its  own  deep,  heavy,  thunderous, 
threatening  blue,  and  not  the  grey  of  the  first  coat  of 
cheap  paint  on  a  deal  floor." 

But  in  defence  of  Van  der  Velde  and  his  brother 
marine  artists,  in  defence  of  the  very  pictures  which 
are  essential  to  our  present  theme,  it  may  be  urged  in 
reply  that  at  any  rate  these  artists  were  sincere,  that 
they  painted  the  sea  and  the  ships  as  they  appeared  to 
themselves,  and  not  according  to  any  existing  con- 
vention. They  interpreted  the  subject  through  the 
medium  of  tlieir  own  personality,  and  not  by  any 
thumb-rule.  They  went  to  nature  with  great  equip- 
ment, but  with  an  open  mind.  Bakhuizen  used  to 
put  to  sea  in  all  weathers  so  as  to  gain  accurate  im- 
pressions for  his  pictures,  and  therefore  we  must  regard 
his  works  as  trustworthy.  Van  der  Velde  also — and 
this  ought  to  be  quite  obvious  from  a  mere  examination 
of  his  paintings — spared  himself  no  trouble  and  incon- 
venience to  get  at  marine  truth.  He  studied  the  ship 
in  all  her  ways,  and  even  went  into  battle  in  his  yacht 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     91 

amid  great  danger  so  as  to  be  able  to  sketch  the  in- 
cident, not  from  survivors'  narrations,  but  from  actual 
evidence  seen  with  his  own  eyes.  Quite  recently  I 
was  examining  a  number  of  his  rough  sketches  done 
on  the  spot.  Perhaps  Ruskin  might  not  have  liked 
them,  but  at  any  rate  the  information  which  they 
convey  to  a  mind  not  accustomed  to  the  sea  is  very 
far  from  negligible.  And  as  to  the  "  curdling "  and 
"creaming"  of  the  waves,  that  point  does  not  matter 
when  we  are  less  concerned  with  wave  effects  than 
with  rigging  and  hulls.  It  is  even  amazing  to  find 
that  to-day  there  are  art  critics  who  soberly  affirm 
that  "the  storms  of  Van  der  Velde  are  certainly  un- 
attractive." Perhaps  it  would  have  been  better  had 
the  critic  qualified  his  statement  by  remarking  that 
such  pictures  are  unattractive  only  to  the  man  who 
knows  nothing  about  ships.  On  the  contrary,  most 
sailing-men  find  the  keenest  enjoyment  in  regarding 
the  ship  in  these  trying  conditions — in  watching  her 
behaviour  in  wind  and  sea,  in  noting  the  methods 
which  her  crew  have  taken  to  make  her  snug. 

For  these  Dutch  masters  knew  what  they  were 
painting.  They  lived  and  worked  surrounded  by  sea- 
men and  children  of  seafaring  people.  There  were  so 
many  candid  critics  about  that  had  these  artists  begun 
to  paint  the  ship  as  they  imagined  her  and  not  as 
they  saw  her,  they  would  very  quickly  have  been 
corrected  by  their  fellow-men.  Even  Ruskin,  in 
spite  of  his  prejudice,  admitted  that  the  Dutch 
painters  "  attained  considerably  greater  dexterity 
than  the  Italian  in  mere  delineation  of  nautical 
incident."  If  he  complains  that  these  same  Dutch- 
men had  "  never  in  all  their  lives  seen  the  sea,  but 
only  a  shallow  mixture  of  sea-water  and  sand,  and 
also  never  in  all  their  lives  seen  the  sky,  but  only  a 
lower  element  between  them  and  it,  composed  of 
marsh  exhalation  and  fog-bank,"  then  let  us  not  dis- 
credit them  for  painting  only  what  they  saw,  whereas 


92  THE    DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

the  Italians  did  not  always  do  so  much  ;  but  let  us 
rather  value  the  Dutch  paintings  because  whatever 
else  they  may  or  might  be  they  are  based  on  sincerity 
and  truth,  a  basis,  one  would  have  thought,  that  was 
as  essential  to  art  as  secure  foundations  are  to  any  art 
critic's  dwelling-house. 

We  may,  then,  now  proceed  to  gather  our  harvest 
of  information  from  these  much  maligned  masters. 
Even  if  we  discover  them  erring  occasionally,  we 
shall  find  them  on  the  whole  reliable  guides  in  our 
investigation.  The  first  (Fig.  16)  is  by  Abraham 
Hendricksz  van  Beijeren,  a  well-known  marine  painter, 
who  lived  all  his  life  in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  sea. 
Born  in  1620,  he  had  fifty  years'  experience  of  the 
contemporary  craft  of  his  country,  and  the  accom- 
panying picture,  which  hangs  in  the  Boijmans 
Museum,  shows  in  sincerity  and  truth  one  of  those 
confused  seas  which  are  so  characteristic  of  Dutch 
waters.  But  most  important  of  all  detail  is  the  con- 
firmation of  the  evidence  which  we  adduced  in  the 
preceding  chapter.  The  support  of  the  peak  of  the 
spritsail  by  a  line  to  the  mast  above  the  throat,  the 
total  absence  of  jib,  the  flag  at  the  peak,  and  the 
tumble-home  of  the  vessel's  hull,  the  vangs,  the  lee- 
boards,  and  so  on,  are  all  well  worth  remarking.  No 
definite  designation  is  given  to  the  geography  of  this 
picture,  yet  the  church  in  the  background,  the  jobble 
of  a  sea,  the  broken  breakwater,  the  little  tjalks 
thrashing  to  windward,  will  revive  a  hundred  familiar 
memories  in  the  minds  of  those  who  have  sailed  in 
Holland. 

But  it  is  when  we  come  to  Ruskin's  Van  der  Velde 
that  we  find  a  perfect  feast  of  delight.  Those  misty 
flat-calms,  so  peculiar  to  Holland,  happily  do  not 
detract  from  the  value  and  enjoyment  of  the  picture. 
On  the  contrary,  they  enable  us  to  study  with  greater 
ease  the  types  and  rigs  of  the  different  vessels.  If 
we  remember  that  this   William    van  der  Velde,  the 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     93 

younger,  lived  from  1633  to  1707  we  shall  realise 
how  important  a  relation  he  bears  to  our  subject. 
Speaking  roughly,  the  Dutch  were  at  the  topmost 
rung  in  their  ladder  of  progress  and  prosperity  about 
the  year  16(53.  At  that  time  also  Van  der  Velde  was 
in  his  prime  as  an  artist.  The  best  types  of  Dutch 
ships  belonging  to  the  golden  age  of  that  country 
were  everywhere  to  be  seen  by  him.  Consequently 
we  find  in  his  paintings  records  which  are  simply 
invaluable  to  us.  In  this  first  picture  (Fig.  17)  it 
will  be  seen  that  a  great  advance  both  in  architecture 
and  rig  has  taken  place.  In  the  foreground,  stern  on 
to  us,  is  seen  one  of  those  magnificent  Dutch  yachts 
of  which  we  shall  have  more  to  say  presently.  The 
gilded  stern  with  its  lantern  is  expressive  of  the 
wealth  that  was  at  this  time  a  feature  of  Dutch  life. 
Beautifully  carved,  it  rises  to  a  great  height  from  the 
water,  and  is  in  many  respects  similar  to  the  sterns 
of  the  contemporary  men-of-war  and  East  Indiamen. 
The  rig,  also,  we  shall  discuss  in  detail  later  on,  but 
for  the  moment  we  may  content  ourselves  with 
remarking  that  the  spritsail  is  still  at  that  time 
used  for  a  mainsail,  and  that  it  is  peaked  very  high. 
To  the  left  of  the  picture  will  be  noticed  a  vessel 
that  has  sprit  mainsail,  but  sets  a  square  topsail  above. 
For  headsails  not  merely  does  she  carry  the  usual 
foresail  working  on  the  forestay,  but  by  now  she  sets 
a  jib.  True,  the  bowsprit  is  steeved  at  a  somewhat 
considerable  angle,  but  at  any  rate  by  about  this  time 
— the  late  seventeenth  century — the  general  appearance 
of  what  we  call  the  cutter-rig  had  begun  to  take 
definite  shape.  The  fore-and-after  close  to  her  has 
slacked  away  the  heel-rope  of  her  spritsail,  and  by 
thus  allowing  the  spar  to  swing  up  and  forward  has 
caused  the  peak  of  the  sail  to  be  dropped.  To  the 
right  of  the  picture  will  be  seen  a  curious  hybrid  kind 
of  rig  consisting  of  a  high  square-sail  and  a  staysail. 
This  arrangement  would  seem  to  have  evolved  from 


94  THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

the  buss  herring-ships  which  we  discussed  on  an  earlier 
page.  There  is  but  one  square-sail,  and  that  is  set  on 
the  mast  stepped  amidships.  No  doubt  it  was  because 
the  sloops  had  found  the  triangular  headsail  so  valuable 
for  handiness  that  at  last  even  the  pinks  with  their 
great,  heavy,  clinker-built  bodies  and  their  leeboards 
at  last  decided  to  adopt  this  triangular  sail  for  use 
when  on  a  wind,  whilst  yet  retaining  the  lofty  square- 
sail,  which  would  be  especially  serviceable  for  running 
before  a  free  wind.  Handiness  in  the  pink  was  not  a 
greatly  desired  virtue.  Most  of  her  time  was  spent  as 
to-day  in  lying  to  her  nets  off  Scheveningen,  in  the 
North  Sea;  but  doubtless  there  were  times  when 
running  out  to,  or  home  from,  the  fisliing  grounds 
that  the  staysail  would  be  found  very  convenient. 
Thus,  for  the  present,  the  fisherman  did  not  see  his 
way  to  "go  the  whole  hog "  and  have  a  true  fore- 
and-after  while  he  was  about  it,  for  he  had  been 
brought  up  to  using  the  old-time  square-sail,  and  he 
had  no  wish  for  the  big  spar  of  the  spritsail  up  aloft, 
swinging  its  heavy  weight  backwards  and  forwards 
across  the  ship  as  the  latter  rose  and  fell  to  the 
waves.  Any  one  who  has  had  experience  of  riding 
to  nets  or  anchor  with  a  spritsail  rig  in  bad  weather 
will  agree  that  in  such  cases  the  sprit-rig  is  an  abomi- 
nation. I  have  never  heard  of  a  spritsail-rigged  vessel 
being  employed  in  the  fishing  industry,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  small  hoogarts  of  Walcheren,  and  it  is  signifi- 
cant that  the  bawley  rig,  which  is  the  nearest  of  all  British 
fishing  craft  to  the  Dutch  rig,  has  for  her  boomless 
mainsail  not  a  sprit  but  a  gaff.  But  I  have  been  told 
by  the  owner  of  an  English  barge  yacht  what  it  feels 
like  to  be  in  bad  weather,  even  at  anchor,  with  such  a 
spar  as  shipmate.  He  had  been  compelled  to  run  back 
for  shelter  to  the  Dutch  coast,  and  anchored.  There 
came  a  shift  of  wind,  and  the  sea  got  up.  Presently 
this  developed  into  a  gale,  the  force  of  which  I  well 
remember,  for  I  was  tied  up  in  the  snuggest  of  Dutch 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN   HOLLAND     95 

harbours  a  few  miles  away,  and  felt  much  of  its  power 
even  then.  A  terribly  anxious  night  was  spent,  my 
friend  told  me,  as  the  barge  viciously  snubbed  at  her 
anchor,  but  the  greatest  anxiety  was  whether  that 
swaying  sprit  would  break  adrift  and  drop  down, 
killing  some  of  them,  and  perhaps  crashing  through 
the  ship.  This  is  not  the  place  to  tell  tlie  whole 
story,  but  it  may  be  added  that  after  burning  flares 
for  a  while  during  the  night  the  barge  had  eventually 
to  be  abandoned,  and  was  wrecked,  though,  I  believe, 
subsequently  salvaged,  yet  much  damaged. 

I  mention  this  experience,  which  occurred  only  as 
recently  as  the  end  of  last  summer,  for  it  shows  that 
whatever  virtues  this  almost  universal  rig  in  Holland 
possessed  in  the  seventeenth  century,  yet  emphatically 
it  was  not  suitable  for  vessels  that  were  not  keen  on 
making  a  quick  passage.  Thus,  if  we  turn  now  to  the 
next  Van  der  ^"elde  (Fig.  18),  we  shall  see  that  the 
Dutch  did  away  with  the  sprit  on  some  of  their  main- 
sails. They  were  so  prosperous  at  this  time,  they  were 
so  full  of  energy,  they  had  so  many  incentives  to  alter 
their  vessels  that  they  were  ready  to  use  every  ingenious 
idea  for  improving  their  craft.  Consider  for  a  moment 
what  was  in  their  minds.  The  old  lateen  was  really  a 
large  triangular  sail,  of  which  one  part  was  set  forward 
of  the  mast.  Now  that  part  had  found  itself  repro- 
duced in  the  staysail  of  the  sixteenth  and  seventeenth 
centuries.  But  the  afterpart  had  to  be  peaked  up,  and 
since  the  lateen  yard  had  been  done  away  with  the 
sprit  took  its  place,  was  placed  diagonally  across  the 
sail,  and  thus  the  main  (sprit)  sail,  together  with  the 
staysail,  made  up  practically  the  same  thing  as  the 
original  lateen.  And  now  when  the  time  came  to 
improve  on  the  sprit  the  chief  point  which  had  to  be^ 
aimed  at  was  some  arrangement  for  keeping  the  peak z^' 
as  high  as  before.  This  was  achieved — after  discarding 
the  sprit — by  lacing  a  shorter  spar  along  the  head  of 
the  sail,  following  the  line  which  the  sail  made  in  its 


96  THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

extension  from  peak  to  mast.  In  order  to  support,  to 
raise  and  lower  this  spar,  a  halyard  was  rove  through 
blocks,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  vessel  on  the  extreme 
left.  Thus  we  get  the  origin  of  the  gaff.  But  it  must 
not  be  supposed  that  the  boom  was  also  at  this  time 
added,  for  that  did  not  come  till  later  on — not  till  the 
Dutch  found  that  they  could  improve  the  set  of  the 
sail,  whether  staysail  or  mainsail,  when  running  by 
attaching  a  light  spar  to  boom  the  Holland  canvas  out. 
But  ordinarily  the  gaff  was  left  aloft  when  at  anchor, 
and  the  sail  was  stowed  in  a  manner  very  similar  to  the 
Thames  barge  of  to-day  by  brailing  it  into  the  mast,  as 
will  be  seen  in  the  present  illustration.  And  of  course 
the  practice  on  modern  full-rigged  ships  of  brailing  up 
the  spanker  is  exactly  the  same  method,  although  the 
trysail  is  becoming  nowadays  more  common  than  the 
spanker  or  driver. 

The  vessel  before  us,  then,  had  we  seen  her  under 
way  would  have  been  rigged  as  follows :  Forward  she 
would  have  a  bowsprit  steeved  high  out  above  the 
water.  On  this  spar  she  would  set  a  jib.  On  the  fore- 
stay  she  would  carry  a  staysail,  and  above  this  a  square 
topsail,  as  on  the  full-rigged  ships.  Abaft  the  mast  was 
set  her  mainsail,  quadrilateral  in  shape,  with  a  gaff  at 
the  top  and  no  boom.  There  are  so  many  illustrations 
of  these  vessels  rigged  as  above  that  there  is  no  possible 
suggestion  that  they  were  mere  freaks.  One  can  see 
how  from  this  the  modern  cutter  has  sprung,  and  by 
what  interesting  stages  so  many  of  her  important 
features  have  been  adopted.  In  the  act  of  reproducing 
this  picture  the  ship  alongside  that  which  we  have  been 
discussing;  has  suffered  so  much  in  detail  that  it  cannot 
easily  be  recognised,  but  it  is  well  to  mention,  for  the 
prevention  of  confusion,  that  the  sprit  which  is  seen 
belongs  not  to  the  ship  with  a  topsail  that  we  have 
been  considering,  but  the  more  obscure  vessel  alongside. 
In  the  same  picture,  to  the  right,  will  be  seen  another 
of  those  yachts  or  "  vessels  of  state  and  pleasure,"  with 


■^  c 


5e 
"«  o. 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN   HOLLAND     97 

gilded  stern  and  lantern  over  the  poop.  Many  an  artist 
of  this  time  loved  to  depict  these  yachts,  for  they  found 
that  the  decoration  of  the  stern  especially  appealed  to 
them,  but  no  one  has  depicted  them  witli  greater  ability 
than  \"an  der  Velde,  the  man  who  understood  ships  if 
ever  a  painter  did. 

And  now  let  us  stop  to  look  into  the  origin  of  the 
yacht,  about  whose  beginnings  a  good  deal  of  confusion 
seems  to  have  centred.  One  hears  a  good  deal  of  care- 
less talk  that  our  Queen  Elizabeth  possessed  a  yacht, 
and  that  even  sovereigns  before  her  time  had  such  a 
ship.  To  make  such  an  assertion  necessitates  a  very 
clear  definition  of  terms.  To  begin  with,  it  is  certain 
that  not  Elizabeth  nor  any  of  her  preceding  sovereigns, 
nor  any  of  her  crew,  nor  any  of  the  shipbuilders  ever 
spoke  of  the  vessel  as  such.  From  the  time  of  Edgar 
the  English  kings,  and  sometimes  queens,  had  indulged 
their  love  of  pleasure  by  sailing  on  the  sea.  But  that 
does  not  make  a  vessel  a  yacht  any  more  than  if  his 
present  Majesty  King  George  were  to  cruise  in  the 
Dreadnought  she  would  be  entitled  to  such  a  term. 
The  Rat  o  Wight,  which  belonged  to  Elizabeth,  is 
sometim.es  referred  to  as  being  a  yacht,  whereas  it 
would  be  truer  to  speak  of  her  as  a  royal  ship.  Not 
only  was  the  word  yacht  not  in  use  in  England  at  that 
time,  but  even  the  Dutch,  who  created  the  word,  had 
not  then  begun  to  use  it.  At  any  rate,  in  a  Dutch 
dictionary  of  the  year  1573  it  is  not  included.  In  olden 
times,  when  the  Cinque  Ports  were  at  their  prime, 
there  were  specially  fitted  up  ships  for  the  kings  and 
queens  of  England  to  cross  the  Channel,  but  these  were 
not  yachts.  They  were  a  modified  type  of  Viking- 
shaped  ships,  with  cabins  and  a  square-sail.  Even  the 
Rat  o  Wight  was  most  probably  a  smaller  ship-rigged 
vessel  and  not  a  fore -and -after  at  all.  But  if  the  evidence 
of  Holland  is  not  enough,  let  us  anticipate  a  point  that 
we  shall  come  to  later,  and  quote  the  remark  made  by 
Sir  Anthony  Deane  in  the  time  of  Charles  II.  to  Pepys, 

(r 


98  THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

when  Deane  told  the  genial  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty 
that  before  the  date  1660  "  we  had  not  heard  of  such  a 
name  [as  '  yacht ']  in  England." 

I  have  searched  through  whatever  books  on  sea- 
manship were  published  about  this  time,  together  with 
contemporary  dictionaries,  and  I  am  convinced  that 
by  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century  the  word 
"  yacht "  had  not  originated  even  in  Holland.  But 
the  derivation  of  the  word  will  throw  some  light  on 
our  subject.  There  is  an  old  Dutch  word,  jagei\ 
which  means  a  hunter  or  sportsman.  A  secondary 
meaning  is  "  the  rider  of  the  horse  that  draws  a  boat." 
Even  in  the  sixteenth  century  the  word  jage7^  meant 
the  equivalent  of  the  French  chasseur,  and  the  verb 
is  jagen,  to  hunt.  Thus  jciglit  means  hunting  or 
chasing.  From  this  there  comes  the  synonym  jciglit- 
schip,  which  might  mean  (1)  either  a  vessel  employed 
in  the  service  of  sportsmen,  or  (2)  a  ship  that  would 
sail  very  quickly,  like  the  chasing  of  an  animal.  As 
to  which  of  these  actually  caused  the  word  jaght  to 
be  applied  to  schip  it  is  not  possible  to  determine. 
Another  origin  of  derivation  is  based  on  the  fact 
that  jagen  also  means  to  draw,  especially  in  the  case 
of  a  boat :  as,  for  instance,  a  horse  towing  a  boat 
from  the  bank  of  a  canal.  Thus  the  towed  craft 
became  known  as  the  jaght-schip.  By  colloquial 
abbreviation  this  vessel  would  soon  become  known 
merely  as  the  jaght.  There  is  in  the  Rijks  Museum 
an  interesting  painting  of  about  this  time  which  shows 
a  yacht  being  towed  through  the  Middleburg  Canal, 
having  on  board  a  gentleman  of  distinction.  To-day 
on  many  of  the  canals,  as,  for  instance,  between  Gouda 
and  Gouwe,  when  the  wind  fails  or  gets  ahead,  a  man 
with  a  horse  will  come  along  and  offer  to  tow  the 
sailing  vessel,  whether  trader  or  yacht.  I  have  seen 
a  100-ton  haak  in  a  scant  fair- wind  in  a  hurry  to  get 
to  Amsterdam  adopt  this  method.  The  horse  that  is 
so  employed  is  called  a  trek-paard. 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     99 

The  suggestions  of  these  three  propositions  cannot 
definitely  be  set  at  rest  It  may  be  that  the  word 
came  from  the  fact  that  she  was  a  towed  vessel,  or 
from  the  fact  that  she  was  speedy  in  comparison  with 
the  other  prevailing  craft.  Considering  that  she  was 
built  not  to  carry  cargo,  but  for  sailing  as  well  as 
possible,  consistent  with  seaworthiness  and  passenger 
accommodation,  it  seems  far  more  probable  that  the 
jag/if-schip  was  originally  so  called  because  she  was 
a  "chaser"  or  "hunter"  for  speed.  The  Uictioniiaiix 
de  Marine,  printed  in  Amsterdam  in  the  year  1736, 
gives  the  dimensions  of  a  small  sailing  yacht  — "  un 
petit  yacht  de  promenade  " — as  42  ft.  long  from  stem 
to  stern,  9  ft.  4  in.  wide,  and  3  ft.  8J  in.  deep.  Her 
keel  is  30  ft.  long.  (These  are  Rhenish  feet.)  The 
bigger  yachts  are  of  similar  build  than  the  smacks, 
says  the  author.  They  have  hatchways  and  a  raised 
deck  aft,  as  well  as  a  room  forward,  and  the  vessel 
has  glass  windows.  The  tiller  was  made  of  iron  and 
bent  a  little.  There  were  two  lead  pumps  in  these 
old  yachts,  and  to-day  the  Dutchman  wisely  still 
retains  the  custom  of  having  such  an  essential  article 
in  duplicate,  as  you  will  find  if  you  examine  the  equip- 
ment of  a  Zuyder  Zee  botte7\  This  excellent  habit 
is  the  very  reverse  of  that  which  is  found  on  many 
English  yachts,  wherein  the  pump  is  placed  on  one 
side  of  the  craft  only,  so  that  in  bad  weather — the 
very  time  when  you  are  most  likely  to  need  the  service 
of  the  pump — the  deck  on  which  you  would  wish  to 
pump  is  the  lee-side  and  awash.  But  according  to  the 
Dutch  idea  it  matters  not  which  tack  the  ships  may  be 
on,  for  there  is  always  an  available  pump  on  the  wind- 
ward side.  This  was  a  fact  that  was  clearly  appreciated 
in  those  days,  for  the  authority  just  cited  adds  that  the 
advantage  of  having  two  pumps  was  "  so  as  to  be  able 
to  pump  from  whatever  side  the  vessel  leans." 

The  bowsprit  of  these  yachts  was  usually  not  fixed, 
and  could  be  run  in  and  out,  in  order,  doubtless,  to 


100        THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

give  additional  convenience  in  entering  harbours  or 
locks.  And  it  is  because  the  Dutch  adapted  the 
bowsprit,  made  it  capable  of  being  run  in  and  out, 
that  the  English  cutters  of  the  old-fashioned  type 
were  thus  provided,  not  with  fixed  bowsprits,  but 
spars  that  could  be  reefed  when  necessary.  That  was 
the  real  origin  of  the  matter — the  crowded  havens 
and  locks — though  in  actual  practice  it  was  found 
convenient  to  run  the  spar  in  when  bad  weather 
came  down.  It  was  customary  for  the  inast  of  the 
yachts  of  Holland  to  lean  forward  and  not  be  quite 
vertical.  Windlasses  w^ere  fitted  close  to  the  mast 
for  hoisting  sail,  and  in  the  bigger  yachts,  as,  for 
instance,  the  "  great  yacht  of  the  West  Indies " 
belonging  to  the  year  1671,  the  deck  at  a  point 
thirty-three  feet  from  the  stem  was  raised  eighteen 
inches  so  as  to  form  "  la  chambre  du  capitaine." 
The  length  over  all  of  such  a  yacht  as  the  last 
mentioned  was  sixty-six  feet,  her  width  being  nine- 
teen feet,  the  planking  being  very  thick  and  varying 
from  three  inches  to  four  and  a  half. 

There  were  also  yachts  for  different  purposes  now  that 
the  fore-and-afters  had  for  so  many  years  shown  them- 
selves to  be  so  useful  and  convenient.  There  were  thus 
Government  yachts,  passenger  yachts  for  communica- 
tion between  the  different  towns  of  Holland,  and  there 
were  "advys-jaghts"  or  despatch-boats.  This  form  of 
yacht  was  known  as  "  a  kind  of  galleot,"  which  was 
used  for  carrying  army  orders,  and  even  to  make 
big  passages.  She  measured  usually  115  ft.  long, 
27  ft.  5 1  in.  beam,  and  11  ft.  5|  in.  deep,  yet  she 
was  not  fore-and-aft  rigged  but  square  rigged.  Even 
to-day,  though  in  most  other  navies  there  are  no 
sailing  vessels  fore-and-aft  rigged  still  employed,  yet 
in  Holland  there  still  survive  some  sailing  cutters 
which  one  comes  across  occasionally.  A\  ith  their 
varnished  hulls,  their  old-fashioned  lines,  the  Dutch 
State   yachts   of  to-day   seem    curiously  out   of  their 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN   HOLLAND     101 

element  alongside  the  very  modern  Dutch  steel  motor 
cargo-carriers. 

Nowadays  these  yachts  are  employed,  as  centuries 
ago,  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  smuggling  and  for 
looking  after  the  fishing ;  but  no  longer  does  one 
certain  custom  continue.  Meagre  as  is  Holland's  col- 
lection of  warships  to-day,  yet  it  is  not  still  customary, 
as  in  the  seventeenth  century,  to  attach  a  sailing  yacht 
to  the  fleet.  But  at  that  age  which  is  covered  by  the 
Dutch  wars,  Admiralty  yachts  were  so  employed  and 
used  by  the  admiral  in  command.  With  the  State 
yachts,  then,  employed  for  protecting  the  Revenue  and 
the  fisheries  ;  with  the  Admiralty  yachts  employed  in 
the  service  of  the  navy  ;  with  the  "  advys  "  yachts  used 
for  carrying  despatches  ;  and  with,  finally,  the  numerous 
cutters  that  belonged  to  the  wealthy  citizens  of  Amster- 
dam, Dordrecht,  Rotterdam,  and  other  cities,  and  the 
hulls  of  these  yachts  magnificent  in  gold,  yellow,  and 
blue,  with  high  bowsprits  and  lofty  resplendent  sterns — 
there  would  have  been  plenty  of  detail  for  us  to  have 
admired  and  criticised  had  we  been  able  to  take  a  cruise 
two  and  a  half  centuries  ago  through  Holland. 

But  it  is  significant  that  the  influence  of  the  Dutch 
navy  over  these  fore-and-aft  yachts  was  very  great. 
Their  sides  were  pierced  for  guns,  and  these  latter  were 
carried,  usually  eight  in  number ;  and  so,  whilst  as  far 
as  one  can  find,  there  was  no  such  thing  as  yacht-racing 
among  the  Dutch,  yet  there  were  plenty  of  sham-fights. 
As  one  examines  the  existing  pictures  and  old  prints 
which  have  been  handed  down  from  the  seventeenth 
century,  one  can  see  these  naval  manoeuvres  being  carried 
out  by  the  Dutch  yachts.  For  it  was  a  century  when 
there  was  always  a  naval  war  ending,  beginning,  or 
tlireatened.  There  was  a  strong  naval  enthusiasm  in 
the  Dutch  people  at  that  time,  and  so  it  was  but  natural 
that  the  yachts  should  exhibit  this  characteristic.  Thus 
we  see  pictures  of  naval  reviews  undertaken  entirely 
by  yachts,  of  mock  battles  and  yachts'  cannon  blazing 


102        THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

away.  We  see  fieets  of  these  vessels  sailing  in  the 
naval  formation  of  line-ahead,  each  unit  keeping  her 
station  like  a  squadron  of  ducks  with  head  to  stern  and 
sails  bellying  out.  In  the  event  of  distinguished  foreign 
visitors  the  Dutch  would  entertain  them  with  these 
spectacular  sham-fights  and  water-parades,  much  as 
nowadays  we  organise  a  naval  review  at  Spithead. 
Detailed  sailing  instructions  were  issued,  and  under  the 
command  of  their  admiral  these  lines  of  fore-and- afters 
would  come  sweeping  down,  firing  their  guns  as  they 
came,  in  the  most  impressive  manner.  They  would 
practise  mimic  warfare  by  boarding  each  other,  and 
exhibiting  their  abilities  in  the  arts  of  naval  tactics. 
The  admiral  flung  out  his  orders  by  signals  just  exactly 
as  in  actual  battle,  ordering  them  to  turn,  to  attack  the 
enemy,  to  cease  fire,  to  come  alongside  for  instructions, 
and  so  on.  A  terrible  thunder  these  yachts  made  with 
their  guns,  and  shook  the  houses  of  the  city  of  Amster- 
dam down  to  their  very  mud-driven  piles.  To-day, 
where  wharves  and  great  warehouses  have  been  erected 
to  deal  with  the  commerce  of  great  steam  liners,  the 
good  people  of  Amsterdam  were  wont  to  stand  on  the 
green  banks  of  the  Eye  and  watch  the  striking  evolu- 
tions of  these  fleets  of  yachts. 

In  the  reproduction  (Fig.  19)  of  a  Van  der  Velde  a 
nearer  view  will  be  gained  of  one  of  these  yachts  to  the 
right  of  the  picture.  There  she  is  with  her  guns  project- 
ing from  her  hull,  with  her  leeboards,  her  brave  display 
of  bunting,  and  her  rowing-boat  tied  up  astern.  The 
heel-rope  of  the  sprit  has  been  slacked  off,  as  the  vessel 
is  at  anchor,  thus  allowing  the  peak  to  drop  ;  but  the 
sail  itself  is  kept  to  the  mast  by  the  usual  lacing.  In 
the  foreground  and  centre  of  the  picture  is  an  early 
type  of  the  smallest  of  the  Dutch  yachts,  known  as  a 
boier,  which  were  usually  about  eighteen  or  twenty  feet 
long.  It  will  be  observed  that  this  type  of  craft  was 
rigged  with  a  small  spritsail  like  the  bigger  vessels,  and 
forward  she  set  a  staysail.     Both  this  little  ship  and  the 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG    IN    HOLLAND     103 

bigger  one  behind  her  are  seen  to  stow  their  anchors 
over  the  bows  after  the  manner  of  the  full-rigged  sailing 
ships.  We  alluded  just  now  to  the  great  rake  forward 
which  was  possessed  by  the  mast  of  some  of  the  Dutch 
vessels  of  the  time.  This  is  especially  noticeable  in  the 
ship  alongside  the  boier.  One  other  point  we  might 
call  attention  to  in  connection  with  the  yacht  at  the 
right  hand  side.  It  was  the  practice  in  the  case  of  the 
big,  full-rigged  vessels  to  cruise  with  a  boat  towing 
astern,  so  that  if  any  of  the  crew  fell  overboard  he 
might  have  a  chance  of  being  picked  up.  In  contem- 
porary pictures  one  always  finds  the  painter  of  the  boat 
leading  to  the  bigger  ship  through  one  of  the  stern  port- 
holes. Now,  in  the  case  of  these  high-pooped  yachts  a 
similar  practice  was  followed,  and  though  the  photo- 
graph in  this  instance  has  suffered  through  being 
reduced,  yet  in  the  original  one  can  clearly  see  the 
painter  of  the  boat  leading  up  to  the  port-hole  where 
it  was  belayed.  Even  the  yacht's  boat  apes  her  bigger 
sister  by  having  a  stern  raised  as  high  as  she  dare,  and 
in  the  older-fashioned  Thames  skiffs,  and  to  an  extent 
in  those  of  to-day,  there  is  a  kinship  with  the  open  boats 
of  the  seventeenth  century  and  so  with  the  high-sterned 
sailing-ships  of  the  early  Tudor  times.  No  doubt  th^ 
unhappy  man  whose  lot  it  was  to  be  towed  in  the  small 
boat  must  have  been  glad  of  this  little  protection  at  the 
stern,  but  we  cannot  exactly  envy  his  experiences  when 
a  following  sea  kept  rolling  up  and  the  boat  viciously 
kept  charging  first  to  one  side  and  then  the  other.  At 
the  extreme  left  of  this  picture  will  be  noticed  a  three- 
masted  fishing-pink,  very  similar  in  hull  to  the  pink  we 
discussed  in  our  first  Van  der  Velde.  This  time,  instead 
of  being  rigged  with  one  square-sail  and  staysail,  she  is 
three-masted,  her  fore  and  main  masts  setting  square- 
sails,  but  her  stern  has  adopted  the  raised  poop  of  the 
bigger  ships,  and  like  the  latter  she  sets  a  lateen  on  her 
mizzen. 

In  Fig.  20,  the  artist  (Van  der  Velde)  again  affords 


104        THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

us  an  opportunity  of  studying  the  craft  of  his  time. 
The  fore-and-after  with  the  white  sails  in  the  centre  of 
the  picture  has  just  come  out  from  the  harbour.  She 
has  been  standing  on  the  starboard  tack,  but  cannot  on 
that  board  clear  the  end  of  the  pier,  so,  as  we  just  see 
her,  she  is  going  about,  and  is  in  the  very  act  of  coming 
on  to  the  port  tack.  The  man  in  the  bows  is  backing 
the  staysail,  and  we  can  see  the  helmsman  pushing  his 
tiller  over  to  port,  so  as  to  enable  the  vessel  to  pay  off. 
The  reader  will  find  that  it  is  worth  his  while  to  study 
the  similarity  which  exists  between  the  rig  of  this 
vessel  and  of  the  modern  Dutch  hoogarts,  as  repro- 
duced in  a  later  chapter.  There  is  no  gaff,  there  is  no 
boom ;  the  mainsail  is  fitted  with  a  sprit  as  usual, 
though  we  cannot  see  it,  since  it  is  the  other  side  of 
the  sail,  and  would  have  interfered  in  Van  der  Velde's 
composition  with  the  vertical  line  of  the  mast  in  the 
small  craft  in  the  foreground.  But  though  the  main- 
sail is  laced  to  the  mast,  there  is  still  permitted  quite  a 
considerable  drift  between  luff  and  spar.  The  small 
sailing-boat  in  the  foreground  has  dropped  her  stay- 
sail, in  readiness  for  coming  to  her  anchorage  or  entering 
a  lock.  That,  at  least,  is  what  seems  likely,  and  the 
canvas  seen  in  the  bows  of  the  boat  would  be  the 
lowered  staysail.  But  it  is  also  possible  that  this  is  one 
of  those  small  fishing-craft  such  as  one  comes  across  in 
Hollands  Deep,  one  of  those  broad  tidal  estuaries 
which  lead  inland  from  the  North  Sea.  These  are  open 
boats,  and  are  rigged  with  spritsail  just  as  this,  but  have 
a  curved  canvas  tent  placed  forward  so  that  the  fisher- 
man while  at  anchor  may  turn  in  and  sleep.  And  if 
this  is  the  kind  of  craft  which  Van  der  Velde  wishes  us 
to  see,  then  that  arrangement  forward  is  not  the  lowered 
staysail  but  the  canvas  forecastle.  It  is  impossible  to 
say  for  which  it  is  meant,  but  it  is  significant  that  in 
such  quiet  little  havens  as  AVillemstadt  and  Strijensas 
just  such  boats  as  this,  measuring  perhaps  sixteen  feet 
in  length,  are  to  be  seen,  or  anchored  out  of  the  fairway, 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     105 

pursuing  tlieir  calling  with  canvas  hood,  spritsail,  and 
everything-  exactly  as  in  this  picture. 

In  the  striking  line-drawing  (Fig.  21)  we  have  a 
good  opportunity  of  remarking  the  lines  of  an  Admiralty 
Dutch  j^acht.  This  has  been  drawn  from  the  model  in 
the  Rijks  Museum,  and  shows  a  somewhat  later  type, 
as  would  be  in  use  about  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  bows  of  the  ship  are  exceedingly  similar 
to  those  of  the  war-ships  of  that  time,  witli  figurehead 
and  high  poop.  She  has  a  nice  sheer  which  comes  up 
to  the  typical  high  stern,  with  its  rich  carvings  and  the 
conventional  Neptune.  Copying  the  big  ships  also,  it 
will  be  observed  that  a  balcony  has  been  extended  from 
the  quarter,  which  was  fitted  with  glass  windows.  This 
yacht  is  very  straight  on  the  keel,  as  was  the  practice, 
and  her  bulwarks  have  been  pierced  for  six  guns  aside. 
That  does  not  necessarily  mean  that  she  carried  twelve 
cannon  plus  the  two  w^hich  would  be  in  the  stern  and 
point  aft — in  all  fourteen.  For  the  practice  was  some- 
times to  provide  more  port-holes  than  were  required  for 
all  the  guns,  so  that  a  full  broadside  could  be  given  by 
transferring  those  across  the  deck  from  the  side  that  was 
not  in  action.  The  object  aimed  at  was  to  avoid  any 
possibility  of  the  ship  i3ecoming  top-heavy  by  so  much 
upper  weight.  It  will  be  seen  at  the  channel-plates 
that  five  shrouds  would  be  set  on  either  side,  which  also 
was  the  prevailing  number,  and  many  a  time  was  copied 
subsequently  in  Britisli  Revenue-cutters.  The  rudder 
is  somewhat  big,  but  with  the  straight  stern-post  would 
doubtless  be  necessarily  so  large  in  order  to  control  a 
vessel  of  such  length. 

In  the  next  illustration — this  time  by  Abraham 
Storck — we  have  (Fig.  22)  yet  another  insight  into  the 
fore-and-aft  shipping  of  the  seventeenth  century.  This 
picture,  like  the  other  Storck,  was  painted  in  1683,  and 
hangs  in  the  Mauritsliuis  at  the  Hague.  On  the  ex- 
treme left  will  be  seen  an  interesting  but  somewhat 
strangely  rigged  vessel.     Slie  has  a  good  deal  of  free- 


^-        3 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN   HOLLAND     107 

board,  and  is  of  good  size.  The  breeze,  altliougli  free, 
is  so  very  light  that  she  has  had  to  send  out  her  boat 
ahead  with  some  of  her  crew  to  tow  her.  This  is  a 
seventeenth-century  Dutch  galleot,  and  the  precursor 
of  the  ketch.  On  her  mizzen  she  sets  a  lateen-sail ;  on 
the  main  she  is  square-rigged,  forward  of  which  come  a 
staysail,  and  then  on  the  bowsprit  a  jib,  working  on  the 
foretopmast-stay.  Below  the  bowsprit  she  would  also 
probably  set  a  water-sail.  We  have  here  in  one  ship  a 
most  extraordinary  mixture  of  the  north  and  south,  of 
the  fore-and-aft  rig  as  well  as  the  square.  The  apple- 
stern  is  characteristic  of  the  modern  Dutch  galleot, 
and  I  have  seen  this  type  in  English  waters  as  far  west 
as  Poole  in  Dorsetshire.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the 
hull,  with  its  large  amount  of  tumble-home,  is  not 
unpleasing,  even  if  the  vessel  seems  to  us  somewhat 
unnecessarily  ponderous.  Still,  again,  is  the  close  kin- 
ship to  the  ocean-going  ship  displayed  in  the  stern  and 
the  poop-deck.  No  doubt  this  old  galleot  would  not 
distinguish  herself  to  windward,  but  in  a  hard  wind, 
running  free  or  well  on  the  quarter,  she  would  be  able 
to  render  a  pretty  good  account  of  herself. 

From  this  galleot  type  there  descended  firstly  the 
bomb-ketch.  The  latter  was  adapted  by  the  English 
and  French  naval  powers  towards  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century.  The  French  called  these  vessels, 
in  fact,  "  galiotes  a  bombe,"  and  so  preserved  the  old 
Dutch  relationship.  The  bomb-ketch  was  of  about 
two  hundred  tons  burthen  and  built  of  exceptional 
strength,  for  she  had  to  endure  the  downward  recoil 
of  the  mortar,  which  was  placed  forward  of  the 
mainmast.  And  it  was  for  this  reason  that  the 
mast  was  stepped  nothing  forward  of  amidships  so 
as  to  allow  plenty  of  space  between  itself  and  the 
stemhead  for  firing  this  mortar.  She  is,  according 
to  existing  prints,  rigged  in  a  manner  very  similar  to 
the  Dutch  galleot  in  Storck's  painting,  except  that 
the   bomb-ketch    carries    a    square   topsail    above    her 


108        THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

lateen,  and  both  topsail  and  topgallant  above  her  main, 
a  water-sail  being  also  shown  below  the  bowsprit. 

From  this  the  galleot  in  the  com-se  of  the  next 
few  decades  altered  her  character  by  changing  her 
lateen  to  a  gaff  sail  with  boom,  and  by  doing  the 
same  with  the  mainsail,  but  setting  the  square-sail 
when  running.  At  the  same  time,  since  the  fore- 
and-aft  rig  was  being  adopted  so  thoroughly,  it  also 
overcame  the  galleot,  and  the  somewhat  diminutive 
mizzen  was  stepped  further  inboard  and  its  sail  area 
increased,  in  order,  doubtless,  to  spread  the  canvas 
over  the  spars  with  greater  evenness,  and  prevent  the 
mainsail  from  being  of  a  size  that  might  be  too 
unhandy.  With  this  seventeenth-century  galleot  must 
be  compared  the  early  nineteenth-century  galleots  of 
the  same  country  shown  in  the  engraving  (Fig.  23) 
by  E.  W.  Cooke.  In  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  the 
change  that  has  taken  place  has  been  less  in  respect 
of  hull  than  of  rig.  Gone  are  the  lateen  and  the 
water-sails.  For  the  loose-footed  mainsail  that  of  the 
contemporary  cutter  with  its  boom  and  gaff  has  been 
borrowed,  and  so  also  with  regard  to  the  ketch ;  but 
it  is  curious  to  find  that  the  vangs  of  those  seven- 
teenth-century Dutch  yachts  that  used  to  besport 
themselves  in  naval  reviews  are  still  retained  on  the 
mainsail,  as  will  be  immediately  noticed.  In  the 
galleot  to  the  left  of  Cooke's  picture  the  sails  are 
set,  but  in  that  of  the  foreground  of  the  illustration 
the  sails  have  been  stowed  and  the  gaff  has  been 
detached  from  the  head  of  the  sail  and  hoisted,  pos- 
sibly to  act  as  a  derrick,  in  handling  the  cargo. 
But  notice  that  the  lower  yard  is  cock-a-billed  and 
is  used  for  setting  a  high  square-sail.  This  sail,  as 
in  the  Revenue-cutters  of  the  eighteenth  and  nine- 
teenth  centuries,  was  not  kept  bent  to  the  yard  as 
we  should  have  expected,  but  when  in  disuse  was 
taken  off,  so  that  the  yard  was  quite  bare.  For  our 
convenience  Cooke  has  shown  the  square-sail  hanging 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     109 

up  to  dry  in  the  background  behind  the  galleot 
which  is  nearest  to  us.  Observe,  too,  that  in  addi- 
tion to  this  course  and  its  yard  the  early  nineteenth- 
century  galleot  sets  a  square  topsail,  and  for  con- 
venience this  is  not  detached  from  its  yard,  but  the 
crew  when  sent  aloft  to  stow  get  into  the  foot-ropes 
and  slack  away  the  sail  so  that  it  runs  along  after 
the  manner  of  the  contemporary  stunsail.  A  neat 
stow  is  then  made  of  it  in  the  centre  of  the  yard, 
close  to  the  mast,  and  the  sail  can  be  run  out  along 
its  yard  again  when  desired.  The  foresail  has  been 
stowed  to  the  forestay,  and  the  bowsprit,  after  the 
chain  bobstay  and  tackle  have  been  slacked  off,  has 
been  hauled  up.  We  have  repeatedly  referred,  during 
the  course  of  these  pages,  to  the  extraordinarily  close 
relationship  existing  between  the  modern  Thames 
barge  and  the  Dutchmen,  so  that  here  we  shall  not 
wonder  that  our  countrymen  have  copied  the 
Hollanders  in  another  item. 

Those  two  stern  windows  seen  in  these  galleots, 
or  ketches  as  we  should  call  them  in  our  country, 
are  very  characteristic  of  the  Netherlands  craft,  as  also 
is  the  hatchet-shaped  rudder.  In  another  of  Cooke's 
etchings  a  Dutch  galleot  is  seen  not  merely  with 
course  and  square  topsail  but  even  with  topgallant  as 
well.  And  so  much  space  has  been  left  at  the  yard- 
arms  that  it  would  appear  that  stunsails  were  also  set 
thereon  during  suitable  winds,  for  about  this  time — 
1829 — the  studding-sails  of  the  ocean-going  sailing 
vessel  were  very  much  in  vogue. 

I  have  digressed  a  little  from  our  period,  because 
I  was  anxious  to  show  at  once  how  important  an 
influence  the  old  Dutch  galleots  have  had  on  our 
fore-and-aft  ketches.  Among  our  fishing  fleets  and 
coasters  the  ketch  rig  is  so  plentiful  that  one  cannot 
deny  that  Holland  has  laid  us  as  a  maritime  nation 
under  a  very  heavy  debt  of  gratitude  by  showing  us 
the  right  way  to  go  about  our  business,  by  imparting 


110        THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

to  us  ingenious  ideas  that  we  had  never  thought  of. 
And  if  we  may  go  back  for  a  moment  and  look  again 
at  the  Storck  picture  before  we  pass  on,  the  reader 
will  perhaps  be  interested  to  notice  that  even  before 
the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century  the  galleot  had, 
whilst  retaining  the  lateen  mizzen,  adopted  the  gaff 
mainsail — without  boom — but  with  bonnet  laced  along 
the  foot  and  an  arrangement  of  brails  for  shortening 
in  or  stowing  the  sail.  These  points  will  be  observed 
by  looking  at  the  white-sailed  vessel  to  the  right  of 
the  picture  in  the  middle  distance,  but  partially 
hidden  by  the  wooden  quay.  Her  square  topsail  is 
hollowed  out  along  the  foot — "goared"  is  the  correct 
expression — so  as  not  to  chafe  against  the  forestay, 
and  in  the  later  fore-and-afters  of  the  Revenue-cutter 
time  we  shall  find  that  this  "goaring"  was  carried  to 
great  extremes. 

In  the  illustration  (Fig.  24)  we  have  a  view  of  the 
JVIaas  near  Rotterdam.  This  is  from  the  painting  by 
Gerrit  Pompe,  who  is  believed  to  have  lived  in  that 
city  about  the  year  1690.  The  fore -and -after  to  the 
left  of  the  picture  shows  a  yacht  of  this  period  with 
gaff  mainsail,  but  without  boom.  And  Pompe  had 
been  very  careful  to  show  us  that  the  yacht  carried 
a  square-sail  for  running,  as  in  the  case  of  the  galleots 
that  we  discussed  just  now,  for  part  of  it  is  seen  cock-a- 
billed  and  projecting  from  the  vessel  to  windward. 
That  this  was  no  singular  feature  is  seen  from  an 
examination  of  other  Dutch  masters.  In  the  National 
Gallery  there  is  a  painting  by  Jan  van  der  Capelle, 
who  was  alive  in  1680,  which  shows  a  smaller  vessel 
than  this,  but  with  gaff  mainsail,  bonnet,  and  no 
boom,  no  jib,  but  staysail,  and  a  square-sail  set  for- 
ward of  the  latter  boomed  out  with  a  light  spar. 
And  there  is  a  similar  subject  by  Ruysdael  in  the 
Boijmans'  Museum.  We  cannot  blame  the  seven- 
teenth-century Dutchmen  for  their  love  of  this  square- 
sail.     It  is  a  most  useful  article  when  the  wind  is  fair, 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     111 

and  it  is  surprising  that  its  modern  employment  on 
British  fore-and-afters  is  the  exception  rather  than  the 
rule.  True,  one  does  see  it  set  on  coasting  ketches 
and  sometimes  on  yachts,  though  very  rarely  in  the 
case  of  the  latter,  especially  when  cutter- rigged.  I 
have  myself  used  it  with  that  rig,  and  found  it  of  the 
very  greatest  utility  when  a  long  run  was  being  under- 
taken with  the  wind  dead  aft  or  nearly  so.  It  can  be 
set  above  a  reefed  mainsail,  and  itself  reefed  and  hoisted 
again,  so  that  it  becomes  practically  a  square  topsail. 
The  old  Revenue-cutters  found  this  sail  so  useful,  the 
Dutch  inland  vessels  to-day  sometimes  set  it — as,  for 
instance,  when  they  have  a  fair  wind  along  the  North 
Sea  Canal — our  coasting  ketches  and  schooners  also 
employ  it,  that  one  wonders  that  smaller  fore-and- 
afters  are  so  slow  to  prove  its  value.  It  is  certainly 
not  so  conducive  to  speed  as  that  modern  invention 
the  spinnaker.  But  it  is  as  a  cruising-sail  that  the 
square-sail  is  invaluable  for  the  yachtsman.  It  is  much 
handier,  and  can  be  carried  for  a  much  longer  time  than 
the  spinnaker — in  fact  for  as  long  as  it  is  safe  to  run 
at  all. 

The  line-drawing  in  Fig.  25  has  been  sketched  from 
a  Dutch  print  of  the  year  1770,  which  is  preserved  in 
the  Water  Tower  Museum  at  Dordrecht.  This  craft  is 
a  kof-tjalk.  She  has  the  older  spritsail  laced  to  the 
mast  as  well  as  staysail,  but  as  she  is  running  free  the 
jib  has  not  been  set.  It  will  be  observed  that  one 
brailing-line  is  shown  from  the  leach  of  the  mainsail 
to  its  throat  in  order  to  shorten  in  canvas.  The  square 
topsail  is  there,  w^ell-goared  this  time  for  the  reason 
that  we  explained  just  now,  and  the  barren-yard  below, 
as  it  used  to  be  called  at  this  period  on  English  full- 
rigged  ships,  is  employed  so  that  the  topsail  may  set 
the  better.  But  notice  also  that  in  the  light,  free  air 
the  Dutchman  recognises  that  he  needs  a  boom :  for 
one  of  the  crew  has  taken  one  of  those  very  long  boat- 
hooks  which  are  found  on  every  sailing  craft  of  Holland, 


112 


THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 


and  are  used  with  so  much  skill  for  entering  or  leaving 
a  lock,  or  for  getting  alongside  a  quay.  In  this  picture 
the  man  has  sought  to  improvise  a  boom  by  thrusting 


Fig.  25.— Kof-Tjalk. 

This  was  sketched  from  an  old  print  of  the  year  1770,  preserved  in  the  Water 
Tower  Museum,  Dordrecht.  Notice  the  light  spar  used  to  keep  out  the  boom- 
less  mainsail. 


the  boathook  into  one  of  the  reef  cringles  on  the  leach 
of  the  sail. 

Perhaps    a    better   idea    of   the   sail -plan    may    be 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN   HOLLAND     113 

gathered  from  the  illustration  (Fig.  26),  which  has 
been  faithfully  copied  from  the  celebrated  volume 
published  in  the  year  1768  by  Frederick  Hennik  Af. 
Chapman,  entitled  Architectura  Navalis  3Ie?Taforia, 
and  was  one  of  the  most  important  and  authoritative 


Fig.  26.— Sail  Plan  of  Kop-Tjalk. 

Taken  from  Chapman's  Architectura  Navalis,  published  in  1768. 
Observe  the  single  brailing-line  to  the  mainsail. 


works  on  naval  architecture  which  the  eighteenth  cen- 
tury produced.  It  will  be  seen  that  it  is  no  accident 
that  there  is  only  a  single  brailing-line,  but  that  this 
was  the  custom  of  the  time,  and  that  two  rows  of  reef 
points  were  provided,  as  well  as  one  on  the  staysail. 
The  other  features,  when  compared  with  this  present 

H 


114        THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

tjalk,   are  so   apparent   that  we  need   not  detain   the 
reader's  attention  in  this  connection,  but  may  pass  on. 

We  have  (Fig.  27)  an  interesting  sketch  that  was 
made  in  the  Rijks  Museum  of  a  beautiful  little  model 
that  must  appeal  unmistakably  to  all  who  have  the 


Fig.  27.— Enkhuizen  Beurtman. 

From  a  model  in  the  Rijks  Museum.     A  "beurtman "  is  a  cargo-carrier, 
and  Enkhuizen  is  on  the  Zuyder  Zee. 


slightest  affection  for  ships.  This  represents  an  Enk- 
huizen "  beurtman,"  or  freight-carrier,  regularly  em- 
ployed in  traffic  to  and  from  the  little  port  in  that 
north-east  corner  of  North  Holland  on  the  Zuyder 
Zee  facing  Friesland.  Nowadays  many  a  beurtman  is 
propelled  by  Kromhout  motors  belching  forth  their 
paraffin  exhaust,  and  certainly  less   beautiful  if  more 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN   HOLLAND     115 

useful  to  commerce  than  their  older  sisters.  But 
happily  tliere  are  still  plenty  of  these  sailing  traders 
doing  their  useful  work  in  connecting  the  ports  of 
the  Zuyder  Zee  with  Amsterdam. 

They  must  needs  be  strong  and  seaworthy  so  as  to 
stand  the  dangerous  waves  which  soon  get  up  on  this 
shallow  tidal  water  which  has  hollowed  out  the  "  South 
Sea"  (so  called  in  comparison  with  the  Noord  Zee). 
Tliey  must  be  so  designed  that  they  may  take  the 
ground  without  heeling  over,  and  they  must  be  big- 
bellied  because  they  have  to  carry  all  the  cargo  possible. 
And  they  must  have  a  shallow  draught  because  of  the 
few  feet  in  the  harbour.  Thus  we  get  in  this  vessel  a 
modification  based  on  the  existing  Dutch  tjalk.  The 
date  of  this  model  is  about  that  of  Cooke's  etchings, 
w^ithin  eleven  years.  To  be  precise,  this  vessel  here 
reproduced  belongs  to  the  year  1818,  and  shows  the 
sprit-rig  at  its  fullest  development  for  comparatively 
smaller  craft.  Fiddle-blocks  are  seen  to  be  used  in 
connection  with  the  runners,  the  vangs,  and  the  sprit- 
tackle.  There  is  a  more  complicated  and  more  efficient 
arrangement  of  the  brailing-line  than  in  the  kof-tjalk 
of  some  years  earlier,  so  that  the  sail  can  be  shortened 
in  quickly  and  effectively.  But  a  topsail  is  now  set, 
and  not  a  square  one  nor  of  the  hybrid  type  which  a 
Thames  barge  to-day  sets.  On  the  contrary,  so  far 
have  improvements  advanced  that  it  is  indeed  a  fore- 
and-aft  sail  in  every  sense,  and  triangular  in  shape. 
The  topsail  ends  at  the  peak  just  as  the  head  of  our 
modern  spinnakers,  and  this  triangular  addition  to  the 
sail-area  of  the  craft  inakes  the  general  shape  of  the 
mainsail  thus  to  approximate  very  closely  to  the  original, 
almost  square,  form  of  the  sail  which  existed  before 
ever  a  staysail  was  employed  and  the  old  una-like 
rig  was  in  vogue. 

On  deck  forward  will  be  seen  the  windlass  and 
handspike  which  are  still  used  on  the  botters,  tjalks, 
and   other  Dutch    sailing   craft,  though   in   the   most 


116         THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

modern  types  an  iron  windlass,  with  a  large  handle 
and  wheel  on  either  side  —  much  resembling  the 
arrangement  which  is  employed  for  pumping  air 
down  a  diver's  pipe — are  more  common.  The  mast 
is  placed  well  ahead,  so  as  to  leave  plenty  of  room 
for  the  hatches  and  cargo  space,  abaft  of  which  comes 
the  cabin  for  the  skipper  and  his  wife  and  family. 
The  curve  of  the  ensign  staff  is  in  no  way  exaggerated, 
though  I  have  not  been  able  to  discover  the  reason  for 
this  preference  for  a  straight  staff.  Notice  also  below 
the  rubbing  strake  that  there  is  a  ridge  which  projects 
from  the  hull  and  continues  fore  and  aft  for  a  short 
distance  amidships.  This  is  a  contrivance,  still  em- 
ployed, on  which  to  rest  the  weather  leeboard  when 
on  a  wind,  or  both  leeboards  can  rest,  each  on  its  own 
ridge,  when  the  tjalk  is  not  under  way.  The  reader 
will  be  struck  by  the  high  stern  and  the  considerable 
amount  of  sheer.  It  is  now  many  a  long  year  from 
the  days  of  medieevalism,  yet  the  Dutchman  of  even 
the  twentieth  century  cannot  get  away  from  this 
custom  entirely.  It  still  shows  itself  in  the  steel 
tjalks  and  haaks  as  it  did  in  the  highly  pooped  ships 
of  the  early  sixteenth  century  and  the  sailing  craft  of 
a  few  years  later.  For,  above  all  things,  the  Dutch 
are  a  conservative  race,  and  the  seamen  are  the  least 
susceptible  to  change  of  any  living  people.  The  tiller 
has  a  cleat  and  a  block  fixed  at  its  end,  so  that  a  line 
may  be  rove  when  the  wind  is  strong  or  the  skipper 
wants  to  run  forward,  perhaps,  to  lend  a  hand  in 
getting  up  the  anchor.  I  have  watched  a  whole  fleet 
of  about  thirty  of  these  sailing  craft  getting  under  way 
in  the  weird  darkness  just  before  dawn.  There  is  one 
continuous  clanking  of  windlasses  and  cables  until  the 
anchor  is  broken  out,  and  then  with  silent,  ghost-like 
eflfect  the  whole  fleet  one  by  one  goes  sailing  down 
the  river  in  the  cool  morning  breeze  and  the  fast- 
swishing  ebb.  Perhaps  an  occasional  shout  from  the 
skipper   to    the    hands    forward,  or   the   thud   of  the 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     117 

muddy  chain  on  the  damp  decks,  and  that  is  all  the 
sound  one  hears.  In  a  few  minutes  the  anchorage, 
which  last  night  was  a  forest  of  masts  and  weather- 
vanes,  is  now  empty,  and  there  is  nothing  but  the  tide. 


Fig.  28.— Paviljoen-Pom. 
From  a  model  in  the  Rijks  Museum. 


In  the  next  model  seen  in  Fig.  28,  which  belongs 
to  the  year  1784,  and  is  one  of  the  exhibits  in  the  Rijks 
Museum,  we  have  a  paviljoen-pom  called  the  Prince 
of  Orange.     Here,  though  the  date  is  earlier  than  the 


118         THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

last-mentioned  model,  we  have  the  fore-and-aft  rig  in 
almost  its  final  Dutch  development — final,  that  is  to 
say,  in  everything  except  a  few  minor  alterations  that 
have  come  through  the  most  recent  years.  The  sprit 
has  gone  altogether,  but  the  long  gaff  of  the  Admiralty 
yachts  has  been  shortened  and  curved.  A  boom  is 
added  to  the  loose-footed  mainsail,  and  there  is  also  a 
topping-lift  as  well. 

In  many  a  respect  this  vessel  resembles  the  Enk- 
huizen  craft,  and  yet  there  are  differences.  The  word 
"  paviljoen  "  signifies  "  tent "  or  "  pavilion,"  and  the 
characteristic  of  this  ship  is  her  captain's  "  pavilion  " 
or  cabin  placed  right  aft,  formed  by  the  poop  deck, 
with  its  windows  at  the  side  and  the  stern.  The 
chimney  in  the  fore-deck,  with  its  cowl,  is  of  the  pre- 
vailing Dutch  type,  and  can  be  seen  any  day  on  the 
two  or  three  Dutch  eel  craft  which  are  always  to  be 
found  at  their  moorings  off  Billingsgate.  Observe  that 
the  head  of  the  foresail  ends  not  in  a  cringle  but  in 
a  diminutive  yard.  The  foresail  also  works  up  and 
down  the  stay,  not  by  means  of  hanks  but  like  the 
mainsail  with  a  lacing.  The  decoration  on  the  top  of 
the  rudder-head  is  not  unusual,  and  one  frequently 
finds  some  such  device  as  a  gilded  lion  there  placed. 
It  may  seem  not  a  little  extraordinary  that  only  a 
single  shroud  should  be  given  on  either  side  to  sup- 
port the  mast ;  but  it  should  be  noticed  that  the 
runners  are  stout  and  provide  a  good  deal  of  aid  in 
taking  off  the  strain.  The  main  sheet  works  on  an 
iron  horse,  and  has  a  couple  of  blocks.  There  is  a 
lower  line  of  reef  points  on  the  mainsail,  whilst  the 
upper  row  consists  of  holes  for  lacing.  The  dead- 
eyes,  far  from  being  any  modern  development,  are 
among  the  oldest  of  the  ship's  equipment ;  for  on  the 
largest  mediaeval  sailing  craft  "  dead  men's  eyne,"  as 
they  were  called,  were  in  regular  use,  and  are  so  named 
in  many  a  ship's  inventory  of  Tudor  times.  The  fore- 
hatch  is  much  like  a  box  in  shape,  and  the  lid,  which 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     119 

is  fixed,  works  on  hinges,  so  tliat  it  cannot  get  adrift. 
The  pair  of  substantial  bolhirds,  one  of  which  is  seen 
on  either  bow,  are  typically  Dutch,  and  essential  when 
so  much  work  has  to  be  done  warping  in  and  out  of 
dock  or  checking  the  vessel's  way  when  coming  along- 
side a  quay.  It  will  be  observed  that,  contrary  to  a 
custom  which  obtained  on  many  of  the  bigger  fore- 
and-afters,  the  jib  does  not  work  on  a  stay.  It  is 
hoisted  by  a  halyard  in  the  usual  manner,  and  has  a 
traveller  on  the  bowsprit.  The  word  "  paviljoen  "  we 
have  already  explained,  but  the  word  "  bom "  or 
"  pom  "  is  given  in  Holland  to  various  kinds  of  craft. 
For  instance,  in  addition  to  the  type  before  us,  one 
finds  it  applied  to  such  sailing  vessels  as  the  Scheven- 
ingen  pinks.  As  to  the  origin  of  this  expression  I 
cannot  obtain  any  definite  information,  though  I  sus- 
pect that  it  may  have  come  into  use  with  the  time 
when  the  "  bombe  "  or  "  bomb-ketches  "  were  in  their 
glory.  Remembering  the  historic  prerogative  which 
the  sailor-man  has  always  possessed  for  confusing 
nautical  terminology,  one  can  easily  imagine  that 
ev^en  a  cutter-rigged  craft  might  have  certain  peculiar 
features  which  would  cause  her  to  be  designated  by  a 
title  which  rightly  belonged  only  to  a  galleot  or  ketch. 
A  very  interesting  type  of  cutter  will  be  found  in 
Fig.  29,  which  has  also  been  sketched  from  a  delight- 
ful little  model  in  the  Rijks  Museum.  She  is  a  very 
beamy,  big-bellied  craft,  with  bluff  rounded  bows  and 
stern.  The  ledge  on  which  to  rest  the  leeboard  is  here 
again  seen,  and  fixed  cat-heads  are  discernible  on  either 
bow  for  the  anchor  work.  It  should  be  remarked  that 
at  this  time  the  hempen  cable  was  still  employed  for 
the  big  ships  of  war,  and  so  the  custom  obtained  on  the 
smaller  craft.  This  cutter  is  well  supplied  with  cannon, 
including  a  heavy  chasing-piece  and  a  quick-firer  on 
the  port  gunwale,  and  was  probably  employed  in 
protecting  the  Rev^enues,  although  her  bulky  hull 
would  have  been  anything  but  speedy.     Her  gear  is 


Fig.  29. — Dutch  Cutter. 

From  the  model  in  the  Rijks  Museum.     Notice  the  method  of  stowing 
the  lower  course  up  and  down  the  mast. 


FORE-AND-AFT   KIG   IN   HOLLAND     121 

deserving  of  attention.  Slie  is  indeed  cutter-rigged, 
but  she  carries  not  merely  a  square-topsail,  but  one 
also  that  has  a  gaff.  The  former  is  stowed  to  the 
yard,  as  we  saw  in  Cooke's  picture  of  the  Dutcli 
galleots.  The  course  which  is  set  on  the  lower  yard 
when  a  fair  wind  favoured  the  ship  is  not  stowed  to 
the  yard,  but  is  rolled  up  and  laid  up  and  down  the 
mast  forward.  By  a  system  of  blocks  and  lines  it  can 
be  readily  hauled  out  along  the  yard  when  required. 
As  we  said  above,  it  was  the  same  method  which  was 
employed  in  the  case  of  the  English  Revenue-cutters, 
and  the  practice  is  still  continued  to  this  day  on  some 
of  the  Dutch  steam  tugs  which  are  found  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood of  Rotterdam  and  Dordrecht. 

The  staysail  of  this  model  is  equally  neatly  stowed  to 
the  stay,  and  the  mainsail,  which  has  its  gaff  and  boom, 
is  stowed  by  brailing  the  sail  to  the  mast  after  the 
manner  of  the  big  ships'  driver.  There  is  no  ensign 
staff  shown  on  this  model,  but  the  Dutchman  cannot 
resist  an  opportunity  for  showing  his  love  of  a  curve  in 
the  manner  he  has  attached  the  ensign  to  the  peak. 
One  very  curious  feature,  which  is  rare,  should  be 
noticed  in  the  gaff-topsail.  We  are  accustomed  to 
seeing  a  mainsail  brailed,  yet  never  a  topsail.  How- 
ever, in  this  example  a  couple  of  brailing-lines  are 
shown,  so  that  in  the  advent  of  a  sudden  squall  or 
when  stowing  canvas  immediately  if  coming  alongside 
a  smuggler,  the  upper  no  less  than  the  lower  sail-area 
can  be  diminished  to  nothing  at  all.  It  is  just  such 
details  as  these  which  make  the  craft  of  Holland  of 
such  enormous  interest.  The  Dutch  have  never  been 
water-shy.  They  live  and  die  on  their  craft,  they  take 
their  families  with  them ;  their  sympathies  are  with 
ships  and  the  things  connected  therewith,  and  have  no 
yearning  for  the  shore.  Their  women-folk  acquire 
the  ship-sense ;  the  smallest  child  when  he  sees  you 
sailing  up  to  a  tjalk  or  quay  knows  what  is  expected  of 
him.     He  or  his  mother  is  ready  to  catch  your  line  and 


122         THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

to  make  fast.  He  will  watch  your  manoeuvres  with 
the  eye  of  a  critic,  for  his  mind  is  moulded  by  such 
experience.  And  so,  because  all  through  his  life  the 
Dutch  shipman  is  ever  concentrating  his  thoughts  on 
his  floating  home,  and  how  he  can  improve  her,  how  he 
can  make  her  more  useful  for  all  the  services  for  which 
she  was  intended,  she  is,  in  spite  of  her  conservatism  in 
hull  and  the  main  features  of  her  gear,  always  being 
made  better  by  the  addition  of  articles  of  apparently 
small  import.  If  there  is  a  device  that  is  good  for 
labour-saving  the  Dutchman  adopts  it,  whether  it  is 
an  improved  winch  or  a  novel  arrangement  for  his 
main-sheet.  He  goes  on  getting  the  last  ounce  of 
value  from  his  craft,  because  whilst  he  is  always  im- 
proving his  ship  he  has  never  got  her  to  ultimate 
perfection. 

The  prejudice  in  England,  for  instance,  against 
building  sailing  craft  of  steel  does  not  hold  good  in 
Holland.  Nor  does  he  always  feel  it  necessary  to  send 
to  Rotterdam  or  Dordrecht  to  have  his  new  steel  tjalk 
built.  He  has  enough  space  at  the  end  of  his  garden 
between  his  cottage  and  the  river,  so  two  or  three  men 
will  go  on  hammering  in  rivets  until  at  length  the 
vessel  is  built,  and  one  day  she  will  be  launched  broad- 
side on  at  the  top  of  the  spring  tide.  She  has  been 
built  far  more  cheaply  than  we  in  England  could  make 
such  a  craft,  and  she  will  go  on  steadily  year  after  year 
doing  her  work  up  and  down  the  waterways  of  the 
Netherlands,  carrying  hay,  vegetables,  or  whatever 
cargoes  may  be  intended  for  her.  To  any  one  outside 
Holland  there  is  always  something  new  to  examine  in 
the  Dutchman,  always  some  new  "gadget"  to  admire 
and  take  note  of,  for  Holland  has  done  more  for  the 
development  of  the  fore-and-after  than  all  the  other 
nations  of  the  world  put  together.  She  has  given  the 
lead,  and  others  have  followed  after. 

"  To  no  man,"  says  JMr.  Warington  Smyth  in  his 
delightful  3Iast  and  Sail,  "  to  no  man  is  the  greatness 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN    HOLLAND     123 

of  our  debt  to  the  Dutch  more  forcibly  brought  home 
than  to  him  who  has  widely  used  the  sea,  in  whom 
something  akin  to  reverence  springs  up  as  he  roams, 
and  finds  everywhere  about  the  globe  the  footprints  of 
this  steadfast  sailor  race.  The  very  sea-terms  in  every- 
day use  all  across  the  seven  seas,  alike  by  Briton, 
Yankee,  and  every  northern  race,  were  in  the  mouths 
of  De  Ruyter  and  those  other  great  admirals  who 
fought  against  us  in  the  seventeenth  century.  Cer- 
tainly no  western  race  is  so  amphibious  as  the  Dutch, 
and  no  land  animal  except  the  duck  takes  so  readily  to 
navigation." 

Although,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  the  yacht  came 
to  us  in  England  from  Holland  in  the  seventeenth  cen- 
tury, yet  it  cannot  be  said  that  from  that  time  onwards 
without  a  break  the  fore-and-aft  pleasure  vessel  steadily 
improved  until  now.  There  followed  before  long  a 
decided  slump,  which  continued  for  some  time,  and  all 
the  good  that  our  own  nation  has  done  in  the  service  of 
the  fore-and-aft  yacht  has  been  within  the  space  of  about 
sixty  years — from  about  the  year  1850  to  the  present 
day ;  whereas  the  Dutch,  as  far  back  as  the  late  six- 
teenth century,  began  to  give  us  the  proper  data  on 
which  to  base  our  improvements  in  naval  architecture 
and  rig  in  so  far  as  they  affect  the  fore-and-after.  For 
most  of  two  hundred  years  we  were  content  to  follow 
blindly  and  without  question  along  the  lines  which  the 
Dutch  had  laid  down  for  us.  There  was  little  or  no 
contribution  on  our  part  in  regard  to  the  science  and 
art  of  the  fore-and-after.  We  accepted  the  facts  as 
they  came  to  us  from  the  other  side  of  the  North  Sea, 
and  we  remained  content  at  that.  When  the  reaction 
set  in  sixty  years  ago  there  was  little  to  work  upon 
except  the  Dutch  heritage.  You  can  easily  see  what 
is  meant  if  you  examine  the  sea-pictures  of  the  early 
nineteenth  century.  Bluff- bowed,  cumbrous,  heavily 
constructed  vessels  they  were,  lacking  the  natural 
beauty  of  the  original  Dutch  types,  and  often  as  not 


124        THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

employed  for  general  purposes,  whereas  the  prototypes 
had  been  designed  to  suit  special  objects,  special  waters, 
and  special  harbours.  When  you  look  into  the  im- 
provements of  lines,  sails,  and  gear  of  the  fishing  fleets, 
pilot  craft,  and  yachts  of  Great  Britain  as  they  are 
to-day,  you  will  find  that  these  superiorities  are  scarcely 
more  than  sixty  years  old,  and  not  always  that.  The 
Hollander  began  at  the  beginning,  because  he  found 
that  with  his  canals  and  rivers  he  was  not  making  the 
best  of  his  opportunities.  He  began  by  improving  the 
rig  of  southern  Europe.  England  years  after  began 
only  where  the  Dutch  left  off,  and  commenced  her 
work  not  as  in  any  sense  a  creator  but  as  adapter ;  and 
that,  if  you  are  a  careful  observer  of  English  history  in 
general,  has  been  our  great  characteristic  for  the  whole 
of  our  national  career.  From  the  time  when  the  Dutch 
seven  provinces  had  united  themselves  into  a  powerful 
republic  their  prosperity  seems  properly  to  have  begun. 
In  place  of  being  a  mere  inferior  to  Spain,  she  became 
the  latter's  rival.  The  low-lying  land  between  the 
North  and  Zuyder  Seas  was  all  too  small  to  contain 
the  energies  of  its  inhabitants,  and  so  they  spread 
themselves,  roamed  over  the  seas,  fought,  traded,  and 
colonised ;  trained  a  magnificent  race  of  admirals,  sea- 
men, and  fishermen ;  looked  to  their  own  internal 
water-traffic,  and  did  wonders  in  the  perfecting  of  the 
most  suitable  means  of  transport. 

Before  we  close  this  chapter  we  must  not  omit  to 
mention  the  origin  of  the  smack.  The  subsequent 
alteration  of  the  English  smack's  rig  we  shall  deal 
with  in  due  course.  But  in  the  early  eighteenth 
century  a  "  smak-schip "  or  "  semaque "  was  similar 
to  a  "semale"  or  "  smal-schip."  The  smal-schip  was 
a  narrower  craft,  whereas  the  smak-schip  was  so  large 
that  she  was  known  in  Flanders  as  the  "  wydt-schip." 
These  two  vessels  differed  in  size,  but  they  were  similar 
in  build.  The  accompanying  illustration  in  Fig.  31, 
which  is  taken  from  a  volume  published  in  Amsterdam 


FORE-AND-AFT   RICx    IN    HOLLAND     125 

in  1736,  will  indicate  the  general  appearance  of  the 
smal-schip.  She  was  made  intentionally  narrow  in 
order  that  she  might  be  able  to  pass  through  Gouda 
(pronounced  "  Hooda")  lock.  Gouda,  it  may  be  men- 
tioned, is  a  few  miles  to  the  north-east  of  Rotterdam 
at  the  junction  of  the  canal  which  joins  the  Ijssel, 
and  is  on  the  regular  line  of  water  patronised  by  the 
traffic  between  Amsterdam  and  Rotterdam.  For 
some  distance  after  emerging  from  the  lock  when 
bound  towards  Amsterdam  the  canal  is  exceedingly 
narrow  as  it  passes  through  the  town.  On  both 
sides  the  houses  rise  up  without  a  break,  so  that  it 
is  utterly  impossible  to  sail,  and  one  has  either  to 
quant  or  be  towed  through  by  trek-paard  or  perhaps 
by  hand.  To  make  matters  still  more  unpleasant 
the  modern  motor  cargo  craft  come  running  round 
the  bend  and  leave  little  enough  room  to  squeeze 
through.  Altogether  for  a  mile  or  so  it  is  a  trying 
time  for  the  helmsman. 

But  there  is  also  a  duplicate  and  wider,  though 
less  direct  canal  running  outside  by  the  walls  of  the 
town,  and,  says  the  eighteenth  century  authority,  the 
semaques  have  to  pass  along  that  canal  by  the  other 
lock.  Thus  the  smal-schip  w^ent  one  way  and  the 
smack  the  other.  These  craft  in  the  times  of  which 
w^e  are  speaking  used  often  to  find  their  way  from 
Amsterdam  as  far  south  as  Antwerp  and  other  places 
in  Flanders.  They  carried  merchandise  to  the  big 
ships,  and  brought  other  cargoes  in  return.  The 
rudder  of  this  type  of  vessel  was  very  wide  and 
heavy,  because  these  craft  w^ere  not  very  fine,  and 
drew  little  water,  and  this  small  quantity  of  water 
was  not  capable  of  doing  much  to  move  the  rudder. 
The  more  water  the  rudder  moves,  continues  this 
description,  so  much  the  better  is  the  vessel  con- 
trolled. Tims  the  rudder  of  the  smal-schip  is  made 
very  wide,  so  as  to  move  more  water.  The  illustra- 
tion which  is  here  reproduced  represents  a  smal-schip 


126         THE   DEVELOPMENT   OF   THE 

of  58  ft.  long,  15  ft.  8  in.  wide,  the  hold  varying  from 
4  ft.  to  6  ft.  4  in.  deep.  But  in  these  measurements 
which  have  been  given  of  Dutch  vessels  it  should  be 
remembered  that  the  foot  was  the  equivalent  of  eleven 
Rhenish  inches.  The  keel  of  this  vessel  was  1  ft.  1  in. 
wide  and  5  in.  thick.  She  was  rigged  with  a  sprit- 
mainsail  and  staysail,  but  no  bowsprit  is  shown.  There 
is  an  old  Dutch  print  in  the  British  Museum  that 
shows  a  smak-schip  rigged  as  a  fore-and-aft  ketch, 
and  is  very  similar  to  the  Dutch  galleot  which  we 
saw  on  an  earlier  page.  She  has  jib  and  foresail,  a 
gaff  mainsail  which  has  no  boom,  but  is  brailed  in  like 
some  of  those  other  vessels  we  have  been  looking  at. 
Her  mizzen,  however,  has  both  gaff  and  boom.  She 
is  seen  with  course  and  square  topsail  set  on  her  main- 
mast. A  hooy-schip  seen  in  a  print  of  the  same  date 
as  the  latter  is  shown  as  a  ketch-rigged  vessel,  also 
being  used  for  carrying  hay,  and  in  many  points 
resembles  the  previously  mentioned  ketch.  But  in 
almost  each  succeeding  generation  the  same  name  is 
used  so  frequently  for  different  types  of  craft  that 
it  is  better  to  be  able  to  recognise  them  by  their 
rig  and  general  appearance  than  to  rely  solely  on  the 
nautical  term  that  happened  to  be  applied  at  a  par- 
ticular date.  We  call  some  of  those  vessels  which 
go  forth  from  Great  Yarmouth  and  other  North  Sea 
ports  to  gather  the  harvest  of  the  sea  by  the  name 
of  smacks.  And  yet  if  we  compare  them  with  the 
smak-schips  of  Holland  in  the  eighteenth  century 
there  is  precious  little  in  common  between  them. 

Thus  have  we  endeavoured  to  show  alike  the  origin 
and  the  development  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  in  Holland. 
It  was  essential  that  we  should  devote  so  much  space 
to  that  country  and  her  craft,  because  she  is  the  true 
mother  of  our  fore-and-afters  of  to-day.  But  we  are 
not  devoting  ourselves  exclusively  to  Dutch  shipping, 
and  may  now  pass  on  to  show  the  influence  which 
Holland   was   to   exercise   over   the   vessels    of    other 


FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   IN   HOLLAND     127 

nations  during  the  seventeenth,  eighteenth,  and  the 
early  part  of  the  twentieth  centuries.  And  we  shall 
seek  to  substantiate  this  influence  by  the  evidence  of 
contemporary  literature  and  contemporary  illustrations, 
for  it  is  a  period  that  is  full  of  interest,  even  though 
the  interest  is  spread  over  a  number  of  types  rather 
than  centred  on  one  or  two. 


CHAPTER   V 

THE    INTRODUCTION    OF    YACHTS    INTO    ENGLAND 

WE  showed  briefly  in  the  previous  chapter  that 
during  the  seventeenth  century  the  time  came 
when  the  "persons  of  rank"  in  the  Low  Countries 
began  to  adapt  the  fore-and-aft  rig  to  their  own  special 
convenience  for  use  both  on  the  North  and  Zuyder  Seas, 
as  well  as  for  the  rivers  and  canals.  For  those  who  had 
business  that  took  them  to  Amsterdam,  Rotterdam, 
Dordrecht,  or  other  cities  the  yacht  was  a  convenient 
and  commodious  means  of  transport ;  and  as  the  nation 
had  rapidly  increased  in  wealth,  so  the  number  of  the 
yachts  became,  before  long,  considerable.  They  were 
now  firmly  established  among  the  usual  possessions  of 
the  rich  of  that  country. 

Now  the  young  man  who  was  presently  to  become 
Charles  II.  of  England  had  been  living  on  the  Conti- 
nent ever  since  he  was  twenty-one,  and  a  part  of  this 
time  had  been  passed  in  Holland.  It  was  on  May  8, 
1660,  that  he  was  proclaimed  King  of  England  in 
Westminster  Hall.  At  that  time  he  was  still  in  the 
Low  Countries,  at  Breda  ;  and,  attended  by  his  courtiers, 
proceeded  to  set  forth  from  Breda  to  get  to  the  Hague 
and  thence  take  ship  to  England.  To  accomplish  this 
journey  it  was  essential  to  proceed  by  canal  and  tidal 
river,  so  a  number  of  those  gilded  yachts  with  their 
high  sterns  and  cutter  rigs  were  got  together  and 
courteously  placed  at  the  disposal  of  Charles,  his 
brother  and  suite.  During  his  stay  abroad  the  new 
king  had  made  himself  a  great  favourite,  and  his  send- 
ofF  was  in  every  way  hearty  and  sincere.     So  soon  as 

128 


THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS     129 

the  news  of  his  proclamation  had  been  made  known  the 
Prince  of  Orange  phiced  the  finest  yaclit  in  Holland  at 
Charles'  convenience,  and  Charles  went  aboard  her. 
This  vessel  had  been  built  in  that  same  year  for  the 
Prince  of  Orange,  but  at  this  time  belonged  to  the 
Board  of  Admiralty  of  Rotterdam.  She  was  most 
beautifully  carved  and  gilded  at  the  stern,  over  which 
a  single  lantern  was  hung  just  by  the  ensign  staff. 
There  was  a  roomy  cabin  here,  with  adequate  head-room 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  royal  exiles,  and  there 
was  plenty  of  deck  room  for  this  monarch  to  walk 
about  during  the  inland  voyage.  The  yacht  was  rigged 
with  a  sprit  mainsail  and  staysail.  She  doubtless  set  a 
jib  also,  though  in  Verschuier's  painting,  while  the  bow- 
sprit is  most  clearly  shown  the  jib  is  not  depicted  at  all, 
because  it  had  no  doubt  just  been  stowed.  Two  port- 
holes are  provided  in  the  stern,  which  was  of  the 
old-fashioned  square  shape,  while  both  sides  of  the  ship 
were  pierced  with  the  more  modern  circular  ports, 
through  which  the  guns  are  seen  projecting.  The 
yacht  also  had  leeboards  and  carried  a  burgee  on  her 
jack-staff,  as  it  was  called  in  England,  at  the  end  of  the 
bowsprit. 

\Ve  can  imagine  this  royal  fleet  of  yachts,  then, 
making  their  way  from  Breda  and  out  into  the  Hol- 
landsch  Diep,  then  turning  northward  past  the  delight- 
fully peaceful  and  sylvan  Willemsdorp  and  up  the 
Dordtsche  Kil,  where  to-day  there  is  a  never-ceasing 
stream  of  all  sorts  of  sailing,  steam,  and  motor  vessels. 
Each  of  these  yachts  had  its  own  steward,  cooks,  and 
men  who  were  responsible  for  the  efficiency  of  the 
pantry,  the  wines,  and  the  cooking.  And  those  vessels 
which  had  not  suitable  kitchens  on  board  were  accom- 
panied by  other  vessels  that  carried  ovens,  stoves,  and 
other  culinary  necessities.  Captain  Clark,  in  his  Histoi^y 
of  Yachting,  quotes  a  contemporary  who  remarks  that 
"  the  stewards  of  the  English  lords,  though  accustomed 
to   abundance,  were  astonished  thereat,  and  confessed 


130     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

that  they  could  not  conceive  by  what  means  twenty  or 
twenty-five  great  dishes  for  each  table  could  be  prepared 
on  board  the  yachts  and  with  the  motion  of  the  water." 
Altogether  the  Dutch  were  leaving  nothing  undone  to 
make  the  king's  voyage  pleasant. 

We  do  not  know  where  the  wind  was  on  that  May 
day,  but  it  is  very  probable  that  it  was  northerly.  Now 
it  is  hardly  likely  that  these  yachts  would  not  avail 
themselves  of  a  fair  tide.  And  about  the  month  of 
May  northerly  winds  are  more  prevalent  than  southerly 
over  this  part  of  Holland.  But  when  wind  is  against 
tide  the  Hollandsch  Diep  is  not  pleasant.  The  two 
forces  working  against  each  other  kick  up  an  unpleasant 
sea,  so  that  this  broad  water  is  notorious  under  such 
conditions.  Thus  the  Princess  Royal,  we  learn,  was 
unable  to  endure  the  motion  of  the  yacht,  but  was  com- 
pelled to  retire,  the  captain  stating  that  they  could  not 
expect  to  have  better  conditions  until  Dordrecht  should 
have  been  reached,  where  there  would  be  shelter.  And 
so  on  they  sailed  until  at  last  they  arrived  at  Rotter- 
dam, where  they  were  to  remain  for  a  short  time.  In 
the  Rijks  Museum  there  has  happily  been  preserved  a 
very  fine  painting  of  this  incident  by  Lieve  V^erschuier, 
who  was  born  and  buried  in  Rotterdam,  and  was  thirty 
years  old  when  Charles  II.  arrived.  In  this  picture  we 
see  the  Maas  studded  with  all  kinds  of  craft  to  welcome 
the  young  king.  It  is  from  this  picture  that  the 
accompanying  sketch  (Fig.  30)  has  been  made,  which 
shows  in  greater  detail  than  is  possible  by  means  of 
photograph  the  yacht  on  which  Charles  was  proceeding 
on  his  inland  voyage.  There  is  a  full-rigged  ship  seen 
in  the  original  which  is  firing  a  salute,  and  the  yacht  is 
replying  with  the  cannon  at  the  bow.  In  the  Rijks 
original  some  of  the  other  yachts  of  the  fleet  are  shown 
also ;  and  numerous  small  rowing-boats,  boiers,  and 
other  craft  full  of  eager  sightseers  are  coming  forth 
to  manoeuvre  round  the  yacht. 

With  their  mingled  splashes  of  gold,  of  blue,  orange, 


Fig.  30, — The  Yacht  in  which  Charles  II.  Sailed. 

This  was  the  vessel  which  carried  his  Majesty  from  Breda  to  Rotterdam  after  his 
proclamation  in  England  as  king.  The  sketch  is  taken  from  Verschuier's 
painting  in  the  Rijks  Museum,  Amsterdam. 


132     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

and  red,  this  fleet  of  yachts  with  its  English  royalty, 
their  courtiers,  attendants,  cooks,  and  servants  must 
have  looked  striking  even  to  the  citizens  of  Rotterdam. 
At  length  the  yacht  passed  from  the  waters  of  the  JNIaas 
and  its  powerful  tide  through  the  lock  into  the  canal 
which  connects  this  river  with  Delft,  and  presently 
she  continued  her  voyage  and  arrived  at  the  latter 
town,  which  is  but  a  short  distance  from  the  Hague. 
Just  outside  the  Hague  lies  the  North  Sea  village  of 
Scheveningen,  though  to-day  it  is  a  village  no  longer, 
but  a  cosmopolitan  tourist  resort.  Charles  proceeded 
to  Scheveningen,  was  rowed  off'  from  the  sandy  beach 
in  a  boat,  and  went  on  board  the  English  warship 
Naseby  on  May  22.  With  the  rest  of  the  fleet  this 
vessel  had  arrived  off"  the  Dutch  coast  a  few  days  earlier. 
She  was  now  re-named  the  Royal  Charles,  and  on  May 
24,  sixteen  days  after  Charles'  proclamation,  she  set 
sail  for  England  with  her  king  on  board,  and  on  May  26 
landed  him  safely  at  Dover.  Thus,  briefly,  had  been 
the  royal  progress  by  yacht  and  warship  from  Breda  to 
England. 

Now  this  is  no  place  to  examine  the  personal  character 
of  him  who  has  ever  been  best  known  to  posterity  as  the 
gay  king.  Apart  from  one  consideration  we  are  not 
concerned  with  his  failings  or  virtues  in  this  present 
volume.  But  among  his  pleasures  there  stands  out 
conspicuously  that  which  can  only  be  obtained  from 
ships  and  the  sea.  With  him  sailing  was  as  great  a 
passion  as  were  any  of  his  unfortunate  amours.  When 
he  was  sixteen  years  old  and  was  staying  in  the  Channel 
Isles  but  three  years  before  his  father's  execution,  he 
displayed  his  affection  for  this  sport,  and  used  to  go 
sailing  in  a  boat  about  those  rocky  islands.  Whilst  he 
was  in  Holland  he  must  have  often  been  struck  by  the 
little  fore-and-afters  dodging  in  and  out,  and  his  en- 
thusiasm keenly  aroused,  as  it  is  in  the  case  of  every 
man  who  is  born  with  that  ineradicable  attraction 
towards  nautical  things,  which  neither  time  nor  cir- 


INTO   ENGLAND  133 

cumstance  can  modify,  but  will  continue  even  till  the 
grave. 

The  cruise  from  Breda  to  Delft  had  especially  im- 
pressed this  enthusiast.  He  had  both  enjoyed  the  trip 
itself  and  intensely  admired  the  yacht  which  had  carried 
him  in  such  surprising  comfort  and  luxury.  "  The 
king  found  his  yacht  so  convenient  and  comfortable," 
writes  the  contemporary  we  have  just  quoted,  "that  he 
remarked,  while  discoursing  with  the  deputies,  that  he 
might  order  one  of  the  same  style,  so  soon  as  he  should 
arrive  in  England,  to  use  on  the  river  Thames.  Mr. 
Van  Mooswyck,  Burgermaster  of  Amsterdam,  and  one 
of  the  deputies  of  the  province  of  Holland,  taking 
occasion  to  do  a  considerable  service  to  his  fatherland, 
said  to  the  king  that  lately  a  yacht  has  been  built  in 
Amsterdam  w^hich  was  almost  of  the  same  size,  and  at 
least  as  handsome,  and  he  took  the  liberty  of  presenting 
it  to  his  Majesty,  praying  him  to  do  a  favour  to  the 
Magistrate  by  accepting  it." 

Thus  it  came  about  that  before  the  winter  of  that 
same  year  of  his  accession  a  yacht  was  purchased  by 
the  Hollanders  from  the  Dutch  East  India  Company ; 
was  taken  in  hand  and  made  fit  for  a  king,  her  cabins 
being  decorated,  her  stern  beautifully  gilded,  and  the 
best  artists  of  the  day  employed  to  paint  magnificent 
pictures  or  to  carve  sculpture  both  within  and  without 
the  yacht.  This,  then,  was  the  3Iarij,  the  first  yacht 
that  England  ever  possessed,  the  ancestor  of  that  long 
line  of  descendants  which  include  the  Alarm,  the  lliistles, 
Meteoi's,  Valkyi'ies,  White  Heathers,  Shamrocks,  and 
many  another  famous  craft  within  living  memory. 

The  Mary  measured  52  ft.  long,  19  ft.  beam,  7  ft. 
7  in.  deep,  drew  10  ft.  of  water,  and  worked  out  at  100 
tons  burthen,  though  we  must  not  forget  that  the  ton- 
nage reckoning  of  those  days  was  a  little  erratic.  She 
had  leeboards,  carried  eight  guns  and  a  crew  of  twenty. 
Now,  so  far  no  one  has  ever  succeeded  in  finding  a 
design  or  picture  that  could  truthfully  be  said  to  repre- 


134     THE    INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

sent  this  first  Mary,  although  Mary  II.  is  reproduced 
in  this  volume.  But  we  need  not  be  in  doubt  as  to  the 
appearance  of  this  first  Anglo-Dutch  craft ;  for  remem- 
bering that  we  saw  in  a  preceding  paragraph  just  now 
that  "  lately  a  yacht  has  been  built  in  Amsterdam  which 
was  almost  of  the  same  size,  and  at  least  as  handsome  " 
as  the  vessel  in  which  the  Breda  to  Delft  trip  was  taken, 
and  that  in  the  Verschuier  picture  we  have  a  detailed 
idea  of  her  lines  and  rig,  we  cannot  go  far  wrong  if  we 
say  that  the  3Iary  was  practically  the  counterpart  of 
this  yacht  which  has  been  reproduced  from  the  Vers- 
chuier painting.  She  has  leeboards  and  four  guns  each 
side  like  the  Mary,  and  would  seem  to  be  about  the 
dimensions  just  given. 

Just  exactly  when  the  3Iary  crossed  the  North  Sea 
I  cannot  ascertain,  but  it  would  seem  that  by  the  middle 
of  August  she  had  arrived  in  the  London  river,  for  under 
date  of  August  15,  1660,  Pepys  gives  the  following  in 
his  Diary : — 

"  To  the  office,  and  after  dinner  by  water  to  White 
Hall,  where  I  found  the  King  gone  this  morning  by  5 
of  the  clock  to  see  a  Dutch  pleasure-boat  below  bridge." 

If  that  is  not  the  Mary  that  Charles  got  up  at  day- 
break to  go  and  see,  then  she  was  certainly  here  by 
November,  for  on  the  eighth  of  that  month  the  same 
genial  diarist  has  the  entry  which  shows  that  he  himself 
went  aboard  the  new  yacht  at  Deptford  : — 

"  November  8,  1660. 

"  In  the  afternoon  Commissioner  Pett  and  I  went 
aboard  the  yacht,  which  indeed  is  one  of  the  finest 
things  that  ever  I  saw  for  neatness  and  room  in  so 
small  a  vessel.  Mr.  Pett  is  to  make  one  to  outdo  this 
for  the  honour  of  his  country,  which  I  fear  he  will  scarce 
better." 

But  under  date  of  January  13  of  the  next  year  Pepys 
was  inclined  to  alter  his  mind,  for  he  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  Pett's  yacht  which  he  was  building  for  the 
king  "will  be   a  pretty  thing  and  much  beyond  the 


Fig:-  31- 


Semale  Ship 


In  the  eighteenth  century  the  semaque  or  smack  was  similar  to 
the  ahove  craft,  but  the  smak-scbip  was  somewhat  wider  than  the 
semale-schip. 


Fig.  32. 


Yorkshire  Billy-Buy 


After  the  engraving  by  E.  W.  Cooke.     Few  British  craft  exhibit  their  Dutch 
ancestry  so  clearly  as  this  type  of  vessel. 


INTO   ENGLAND  135 

Dutchman's."  She  was  to  have  sails  made  of  Holland 
duck,  and  was  ballasted  with  lead  shot  brought  from 
the  Tower  of  London.  The  Petts  were  a  family  of 
shipbuilders  which  were  employed  in  the  service  of  the 
English  sovereigns  from  the  time  of  Henry  VHI.  even 
to  the  reign  of  William  HL  and  Mary.  In  their  day 
and  country  the  different  generations  of  this  family 
were  supreme  for  the  science  and  art  of  naval  con- 
struction. Battleships  of  unheard-of  size  the  family 
had  been  building  through  half-a-dozen  reigns,  and 
they  had  had  all  sorts  of  difficult  and  unprecedented 
tasks  to  perform.  But  a  yacht  not  one  of  them  had 
ever  constructed  or  designed.  So  great  was  Charles' 
delight  in  his  Dutch  Marij  that  both  he  and  his  brother 
the  Duke  of  York  resolved  to  have  an  English  yacht. 
Thus  Peter  Pett  was  entrusted  with  the  building  at 
Deptford  of  one  for  the  king,  whilst  his  younger  brother 
Christopher  was  to  construct  the  Anne  at  AVoolwich 
for  the  Duke  of  York.  The  name  of  the  king's  yacht 
was  to  be  the  Jenny,  and  a  keen  rivalry  was  started  as 
to  which  shipbuilding  brother  should  turn  out  the  better 
yacht  for  one  of  the  two  royal  brothers. 

Already  as  early  as  November  of  the  year  in  which 
the  Mary  came  over,  we  have  seen  the  elder  Pett  in- 
structed to  build  something  better ;  and  two  months 
later  we  have  seen  Pepys  going  to  look  at  her  on  the 
stocks  and  much  admiring  her.  That  was  in  January, 
and  from  a  State  Paper  Domestic  of  the  12th  of  April 
in  that  same  year,  1661,  we  find  that  the  other  brother 
Christopher  is  busily  engaged  with  the  finishing  touches 
to  the  Anne.  He  has  had  some  anxiety  in  his  yard,  for 
he  informs  the  Navy  Commissioners  that  a  gunner  of 
the  Mary — not  the  yacht  but  a  man-of-war  of  the  same 
name — whilst  entering  the  powder-room  of  that  ship 
with  a  cracked  candle,  caused  the  loose  powder  to  take 
fire,  which  burnt  the  man  much  but  did  not  harm  the 
ship.  Then  he  goes  on  to  say  that  the  Duke  of  York 
has  ordered   his  yacht  to   be   launched    on  Thursday, 


136     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

although  the  joiners  and  carvers  have  not  yet  completed 
their  jobs.  Perhaps,  like  many  another  sailing-man,  it 
was  the  first  dawn  of  spring,  and  an  occasional  bright 
day  of  sunshine  after  the  winter  which  caused  the  royal 
yachtsman  during  that  April  to  hurry  along  the  ship- 
builder and  get  the  yacht  into  the  water  with  the  utmost 
speed. 

But  at  last  both  yachts  were  launched,  and  the  two 
pairs  of  brothers  were  able  to  make  their  comparisons. 
Let  us  turn  to  Pepys'  Diary  again  and  look  at  his 
remarks  dated  May  21,  1661  :— 

"  And  then  we  took  boat  to  Woolwich,  where  we 
staid  and  gave  order  for  the  fitting  out  of  some  more 
ships  presently.  And  then  to  Deptford,  where  we  staid 
and  did  the  same  ;  and  so  took  barge  again,  and  were 
overtaken  by  the  King  in  his  barge,  he  having  been 
down  the  river  with  his  yacht  this  day  for  pleasure  to  try 
it ;  and,  as  I  hear,  Commissioner  Pett's  do  prove  better 
than  the  Dutch  one,  and  than  that  his  brother  built." 

Thus  Peter  had  beaten  Christopher  and  the  king 
had  beaten  the  Duke  of  York.  Up  till  then  EngUsh 
shipbuilding  had  been  indebted  to  foreign  influences  in 
regard  to  ship-design  and  building.  Just  as  in  times 
long  past  Scandinavia,  then  Italy,  and  Spain  had  taught 
the  English  shipmen  much  of  what  they  knew :  just, 
too,  as  the  French  in  the  following  century  were  to  give 
them  many  more  ideas,  so  Holland  had  imparted  some 
of  her  knowledge  of  shipbuilding  and  design  of  men- 
of-war,  so  she  had  taught  the  Petts  how  to  design  and 
build  the  first  English  yacht.  We  can  almost  see  the 
Secretary  of  the  Admiralty  and  Commissioner  Pett 
climbing  in  and  out  of  the  Mary,  taking  up  boards  to 
examine  her  fastenings,  tapping  the  beams  here  and 
there,  examining  the  planking  with  the  eyes  of  experts. 
We  can  imagine  Pepys  admiring  the  Dutch  workman- 
ship, criticising  some  novel  idea  that  English  ship- 
wrights had  never  yet  contemplated,  and  then  poor 
vexed  Peter  Pett  scratching  his  head  and  wondering 


INTO   ENGLAND  137 

whether  his  own  capacity,  the  capacities  of  his  men  and 
the  yard,  would  be  capable  of  turning  out  a  craft  as 
good,  let  alone  superior  to  the  Dutch  Mary  of  the 
East  India  Company,  However,  lie  applied  his  mind 
to  it,  and  he  was  spurred  on  as  well  by  national  pride 
as  by  the  competition  of  his  brother  a  few  miles  down 
the  river,  and  in  the  end,  as  we  have  seen,  Deptford 
not  only  beat  Woolwich  but  Amsterdam  as  well. 

The  3Iarif  had  created  a  sensation  among  those 
who  interested  themselves  in  shipping  matters.  She 
was  something  distinctly  sui  generis.  The  year  16G0 
was  memorable  not  merely  for  the  king's  accession, 
for  the  Restoration  of  the  Stuarts,  but  for  the  innova- 
tion of  the  first  yacht.  "  In  the  year  '60,"  Sir  Anthony 
Deane  told  Pepys,  "  the  Dutch  gave  his  Majesty  the 
yacht  called  the  Mary,  from  whence  came  the  improve- 
ment of  our  present  yachts  ;  for  until  that  time  we  had 
not  heard  of  such  a  name  in  England."  And  yet  it  is 
certain  that  the  word,  if  not  the  type  of  craft,  had  been 
heard  of  in  this  country  some  years  before  ;  for  in  a 
Collection  of  f^oyages  and  Travels  it  was  used  in  1642 
in  reference  to  the  Dutch  East  India  Company's  yachts, 
yet  these  were  more  likely  to  have  been  full-rigged  ships 
than  cutters  or  sloops. 

The  3Ia?'y  was  the  first  yacht  which  was  ever  on 
any  of  the  navy  lists  of  England,  and  she  remained 
there  until  the  year  1675,  when  she  was  cast  away  near 
to  Holyhead.  The  Duke  of  York's  Ajme,  which  had 
the  Mary  as  model,  was  identical  with  the  3Iary  in  re- 
gard to  tonnage,  beam,  and  length  of  keel,  but  the  Anne 
was  seven  inches  less  in  depth,  and  drew  seven  feet  of 
water  as  against  the  3fa7y/s  ten.  She  also  carried  twenty 
men  like  her  prototype.  It  was  in  this  year  (1661) 
that  the  Dutch  again  presented  Charles  with  a  Dutch 
yacht.  No  doubt  they  were  flattered  by  the  amount 
of  appreciation  which  their  gift  had  aroused,  and  this 
time  they  sent  a  smaller  vessel  of  85  tons  named  the 
Bezan,  which  seems,  as  we  shall  see  presently,  to  have 


138     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

been  used  by  no  one  so  much  as  our  friend  Mr.  Pepys, 
who  was  accustomed  to  spend  enjoyable  week-ends 
cruising  in  her  down  the  Thames,  leaving  her  somewhere 
up  the  JNIedway  and  then  returning  by  land. 

For  Pepys  was  as  much  attached  to  the  new  sport 
of  yachting  as  was  his  sovereign.  And  here  is  a  little 
picture  he  gives  of  an  incident,  dated  June  13,  1661  : 
"  I  went  down  with  my  lord  in  the  barge  to  Dept- 
ford,"  he  writes,  "  and  there  went  on  board  the  Dutch 
yacht,  and  staid  there  a  good  while,  W.  Howe  not 
being  come  with  my  lord's  things,  which  made  my 
lord  very  angry.  By-and-by  he  comes,  and  so  we  set 
sayle,  and  anon  went  to  dinner,  my  lord  and  we  very 
merry ;  and  after  dinner  1  went  down  below,  and  there 
sang,  and  took  leave  of  W.  Howe,  Captain  Rolt,  and 
the  rest  of  my  friends  ;  then  went  up  and  took  leave  of 
my  lord,  who  gave  me  his  hand,  and  parted  with  great 
respect.  So  went,  and  Captain  Ferrers  with  me,  into 
our  wherry ;  and  my  lord  did  give  five  guns,  all  they 
had  charged,  which  was  the  greatest  respect  my  lord 
could  do  me,  and  of  which  I  was  not  a  little  proud. 
So,  with  a  sad  and  merry  heart,  I  left  them,  sailing 
pleasantly  from  Erith,  hoping  to  be  in  the  Downs 
to-morrow  early." 

There  were,  then,  by  the  summer  of  1661,  or  the 
year  following  Charles'  accession,  four  royal  yachts  : 
the  two  Dutch  yachts,  Mary  and  Bezan,  as  well  as  the 
two  English  yachts,  Jenny  and  Anne.  As  this  little 
fleet  lay  in  the  Thames  they  were  the  sights  of  the 
London  river.  "  Before  we  had  dined,"  writes  Pepys 
on  September  14,  1661,  "  comes  Sir  R.  Slingsby  and 
his  lady,  and  a  great  deal  of  company,  to  take  my  wife 
and  I  out  by  barge  to  show  them  the  King's  and  Duke's 
yachts  .  .  .  and  we  had  great  pleasure,  seeing  all  four 
yachts,  viz.  these  two,  and  the  two  Dutch  ones." 

We  mentioned  in  a  previous  chapter  that  in  spite  of 
their  large  fleets  of  yachts,  their  sham-fights  and  re- 
views, the  Dutch  do  not  seem  to  have  been  interested 


INTO   ENGLAND  139 

in  yacht-racing ;  for  these  vessels  were  built  rather  for 
dignity  and  comfort,  for  stateliness,  and  as  a  means 
of  transport,  than  for  racing  purposes.  But  knowing 
Charles'  type  of  character  as  we  do,  with  its  intense 
love  of  pleasure,  of  excitement  and  novelty,  we  are  not 
surprised  to  find  that  he  instituted  the  new  sport  of 
yacht-racing  as  soon  as  he  had  got  together  this  little 
fleet  of  yachts.  Whatever  else  may  be  said  to  liis 
credit  or  discredit  in  an  age  that  was  notorious  for  its 
general  laxity  reacting  on  the  Puritanism  of  the  Com- 
inonwealth  period,  at  any  rate  the  Merry  Monarch  was 
the  father  of  that  which  we  are  accustomed  to  call  the 
queen  of  sports.  We  read  just  now  that  Pepys,  on  liis 
way  back  to  town  from  Deptford,  was  overtaken  by  the 
king  in  his  rowed  barge  after  the  sovereign  had  been 
down  the  river  trying  his  new  yacht  against  the  Duke 
of  York's.  Four  months  later  there  w^as  a  more  definite 
and  decided  race,  as  we  may  see  from  Evelyn,  who,  like 
his  contemporary,  kept  and  bequeathed  to  posterity  a 
diary  that  is  a  reflection  of  the  social  life  in  England 
during  the  latter  part  of  the  seventeenth  century.  On 
October  1,  1661,  Evelyn  writes: — 

*'  I  sailed  this  morning  with  his  Majesty  in  one  of 
his  yachts  (or  pleasure-boats),  vessels  not  known  among 
us  till  the  Dutch  East  India  Company  presented  that 
curious  piece  to  the  King ;  being  very  excellent  sailing- 
vessels.  It  was  on  a  wager  between  his  other  new 
pleasure-boat,  built  frigate-like,  and  one  of  the  Duke  of 
York's — the  wager  100/. ;  the  race  from  Greenwich  to 
Gravesend  and  back.  The  King  lost  it  going,  the 
wind  being  contrary,  but  saved  stakes  in  returning. 
There  were  divers  noble  persons  and  lords  on  board,  his 
Majesty  sometimes  steering  himself.  His  barge  and 
kitchen-boat  attended.  I  brake  fast  this  morning  with 
the  King  at  return  in  his  smaller  vessel,  he  being  pleased 
to  take  me  and  only  four  more,  who  were  noblemen, 
with  him  ;  but  dined  in  his  yacht,  where  we  all  eat 
together  with  his  Majesty." 


140     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

Thus  we  have  here  from  one  who  was  an  actual 
eye-witness  a  brief  but  reUable  account  of  the  first 
of  those  yachting  contests  which  to-day  take  place 
throughout  the  summer,  week  by  week,  around  our 
coasts,  wherever  local  conditions  permit.  From  this 
first  race  has  descended  indirectly  the  important 
series  of  contests  for  the  America  Cup,  the  still 
longer  races  across  the  Atlantic  from  America  to 
England,  to  say  nothing  of  the  annual  races  on  the 
Solent,  and  especially  with  Cowes  as  the  starting  and 
finishing  point.  I  say  "  indirectly,"  because  there 
follows  a  hiatus,  as  we  shall  see  presently.  But  the 
revival  was  to  follow  a  few  decades  after,  and  so  to 
connect  the  yachting  of  Charles  II.  with  that  of  to-day. 

With  the  dimensions  of  the  31ari)  that  we  have 
given,  with  the  Verschuier  sketch  before  us  of  an 
admittedly  similar  craft,  we  have  been  enabled  to 
visualise  the  first  Mary.  Her  glass  windows  let  into 
the  poop,  her  gilt,  her  carvings  and  interior  paintings 
we  can  well  imagine,  knowing  that  they  actually 
existed.  Of  the  life  on  board  Pepys  and  Evelyn  have 
left  us  glimpses,  and  the  State  Papers  Domestic  of 
this  period  lend  their  aid  by  adding  an  occasional  item 
to  complete  the  picture  that  we  are  endeavouring  to 
compose.  There  is,  for  instance,  still  preserved  under 
date  of  February  27,  1662,  an  order  for  a  warrant  to 
pay  John  Goulding,  captain  of  the  yacht  3Iarij,  the 
sum  of  £500  in  lieu  of  5000  guilders  voluntarily  lent 
by  him  to  the  King  at  Antwerp  in  1657,  "during  the 
time  of  his  necessities  " ;  and  there  is  another  warrant 
of  March  11  in  the  same  year  to  the  same  effect.  It 
is  just  an  amusing  detail  that  the  royal  exile  should  be 
seen  borrowing  from  his  future  skipper  a  sum  of 
money  which  apparently  was  not  paid  back  for  at 
any  rate  five  years.  Belonging  to  November  27  of 
the  same  year,  1662,  there  is  also  a  State  Paper  wherein 
Captain  James  Lambert  recommends  Edw.  Janson  to 
be  mate  of  the  Duke  of  York's  yacht. 


INTO   ENGLAND  141 

The  second  Dutch  yacht,  the  Bezau,  which,  we 
saw,  was  received  as  a  present  also,  was  of  35  tons 
burthen.  In  length  she  was  as  much  as  18  feet 
sliorter  than  the  Marij,  and  drew  less  than  half  the 
3Iarys  draught  of  water.  The  Bezans  exact  dimen- 
sion's were :  Length,  34  ft.  ;  breadth,  14  ft. ;  depth, 
7  ft.  ;  draught,  3  ft.  6  in. ;  and  her  crew  con- 
sisted of  four  men.  More  tlian  this  we  do  not  know, 
but  I  am  inclined  to  think  she  was  probably  of  the 
boier  type.  Illustrations  of  this  species  of  craft  will 
be  found  later  on  in  this  volume. 

So  pleased  had  Charles  II.  become  with  his  two 
Dutch  and  two  English  yachts,  that  in  the  year  16C)2  we 
find  him  anxious  for  another.  Just  as  his  Deptford 
Jenny  had  been  built  to  beat  the  Amsterdam  3Iary,  so 
now  he  evidently  wanted  an  English-built  Bezan.  Since 
Peter  Pett  had  done  better  than  his  brother  with  the 
Jenny,  so  now  he  was  commissioned  to  build  the 
Jamaie.  This  craft  measured  31  ft.  long,  12^  ft. 
wide,  drew  3^  ft.  of  water,  was  of  25  tons  burthen, 
and  carried  a  crew  of  four.  She  was  slightly  smaller 
than  the  Bezan,  but  otherwise  so  similar  that  we 
cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  believe  that  she  was 
built  to  show  herself  the  superior  of  the  Dutchman. 

Perhaps  this  is  the  craft  of  which  Pepys  speaks 
in  the  following  account  belonging  to  September  5, 
1662:— 

"  Up  by  break  of  day  at  5  o'clock,  and  down  by 
water  to  Woolwich  ;  in  my  way  saw  the  yacht  lately 
built  by  our  virtuosoes  (my  Lord  Brunkard  and  others 
M'ith  the  help  of  Commissioner  Pett  also)  set  out  from 
Greenwich  with  the  little  Dutch  Bezan  to  try  for 
master  ;  and  before  they  got  to  Woolwich  the  Dutch 
beat  them  half-a-mile  (and  I  hear  this  afternoon  that, 
in  coming  home,  it  got  above  three  miles)  ;  which  all 
our  people  are  glad  of." 

The  Jamaie,  it  should  be  added,  was  built  at 
Lambeth    and    was     designed     by    Charles     himself. 


142    THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

For  it  must  be  remembered  that  apart  from  his 
personal  keenness  for  saihng  he  possessed  for  that 
time  a  really  great  amount  of  knowledge  in  matters 
connected  with  ships  and  the  sea.  To  a  natural 
instinct  for  such  matters  he  brought  a  mind  that  was 
ever  receptive  of  new  ideas,  and  during  his  sojourn  in 
Holland  he  could  scarcely  help  assimilating  some  of 
the  theories  and  practice  of  the  then  greatest  maritime 
power  in  existence. 

The  popular  mind  is  nowadays  so  much  interested 
in  that  king's  follies  and  weaknesses  that  it  forgets  the 
other  side  to  his  character.  He  showed  a  true  zeal 
for  his  navy,  over  which  his  brother  the  Duke  of 
York  and  the  future  James  H.,  a  real  fighting 
seaman  as  well  as  yachtsman,  was  head.  No  English 
sovereign  had  taken  such  a  personal  interest  in  the 
service.  It  was  during  his  reign  that  the  Greenwich 
Royal  Observatory  and  the  Nautical  Almanac  were 
founded,  and  a  new  impulse  given  to  astronomy,  to 
navigation,  and  to  naval  architecture,  and  the  begin- 
ning of  scientific  inquiry  instead  of  a  mere  blind 
following  of  existing  conventions.  Fresh  types  of 
craft  were  introduced  into  the  navy,  and  in  general 
the  foundations  were  being  laid  for  the  next 
generations  to  build  upon. 

From  the  incentive  which  had  been  given  during 
the  first  couple  of  years  of  his  reign,  yachts  of 
various  sizes  began  to  be  built  in  the  English  yards, 
and  a  complete  list  of  these  can  be  found  in  the 
navy  lists  of  the  time  which  still  exist.  The  smaller 
types,  such  as  the  two  just  mentioned,  were  now  rarer 
than  those  of  bigger  tonnage.  It  is  true  that  in  1673 
another  25-tonner  named  the  Isle  of  Wight  was  built 
at  Portsmouth,  her  dimensions  being  31  ft.  long, 
12J  ft.  beam,  and  drawing  G  ft.  of  water.  And 
two  years  prior  to  that  a  yacht  called  the  Queen- 
borough  was  built  by  Pett  at  Chatham,  with  a  tonnage 
of  twenty-nine  ;  and  there  was  even  the  Minion,  smaller 


INTO   ENGLAND  143 

still,  whose  burthen  was  only  22  tons ;  length,  28  ft.  ; 
beam,  12  ft.  4  in.;  depth,  4  ft.  9  in.;  and  draught 
4  ft.  But  it  must  not  be  imagined  that  all  these 
yachts  were  mere  pleasure-boats.  The  bigger  ones, 
at  any  rate,  carried  guns  as  we  have  seen,  and  were 
reckoned  as  small  units  of  the  navy,  which  at  that 
time  included  in  its  list  such  craft  as  ketches,  sloops, 
pinks,  hoys,  and  hulks.  The  Minion  even  carried 
a  couple  of  guns  and  a  crew  of  four.  The  ketches 
were  of  about  60  tons,  had  a  crew  of  thirty-five,  and 
carried  six  or  eight  guns. 

There  is  a  sloop,  for  instance,  of  the  name  Dunkirk 
which  has  a  burthen  of  33  tons,  carries  a  crew  of  five 
and  a  couple  of  guns.  There  were  also  galleots  varying 
from  108  to  33  tons  measurement,  the  pinks  varying 
from  55  to  123  tons,  and  the  sloops  from  22  to  68  tons. 
The  sloop  Bonetta,  for  example,  built  by  Phineas  Pett 
in  1673,  measured  61  ft.  long,  13  ft.  wide,  was  5  ft. 
deep,  drew  4j  ft.  of  water,  had  a  burthen  of  57  tons, 
and  carried  a  crew  of  ten  and  four  guns.  Between 
the  dates  of  the  accession  and  end  of  Charles'  reign 
there  were  altogether  twenty-six  yachts  numbered  in  the 
navy  lists,  which,  additional  to  those  we  have  already 
mentioned,  include  the  Merlin,  the  Charlotte,  Navy, 
Monmouth,  Mary  II.,  Kitchen,  Cleaveland,  Fubbs, 
Heny-ietta,  Charlotte,  Isabella,  Katherine,  Portsmouth, 
Greyhound.  We  have  not  space  to  deal  with  all  of 
these  separately,  but  in  most  of  the  larger  craft  there 
was  a  close  resemblance  to  the  yacht  in  the  Verschuier 
sketch.  After  the  close  of  his  reign  the  list  of  yachts 
diminishes  in  number,  and  on  Lady  Day  of  1686  there 
were  only  sixteen  of  these  in  our  navy. 

The  Katherine  is  mentioned  in  a  State  Paper  of 
January  22,  1662-3,  wherein  Christopher  Pett  and 
Jonas  Shish  write  to  the  Navy  Commissioners  giving 
the  dimensions  of  the  three  chimneys  which  are  being 
placed  in  this  royal  vessel.  Five  days  later  matters 
were  being  taken  in  hand  to  get  a  crew  for  the  new 


144     THE   INTRODUCTION    OF   YACHTS 

yacht,  and  Captain  William  Badiley  writes  to  the  Navy 
Commissioners  from  Deptford  wishing  to  appoint  a 
second  master  to  this  yacht,  and  recommends  a  man 
of  the  name  Garner.  And  so  these  yachts  multiplied. 
On  May  19,  1663,  Christopher  Pett  again  writes  to 
the  Commissioners  in  respect  of  the  latest  yacht  that 
he  is  constructing.  He  says  that  the  charge  for  build- 
ing a  yacht  like  the  Anne  will  be  £1850,  but  that 
sum  would  not  include  the  cost  of  the  guns.  And 
the  next  day  he  writes  again  to  say  that  with  regard 
to  the  timber  required  for  the  new  yacht  the  carters 
have  spoiled  some  by  cutting  it  for  their  own  conveni- 
ence ;  but  Captain  Taylor  of  Wapping,  he  mentions, 
has  some  very  good  planks  in  his  yard.  And  then 
there  is  a  little  touch  which  illustrates  once  again  how 
keen  an  enthusiast  Charles  II.  was ;  for  Pett  adds 
the  information  that  yesterday  the  king  paid  a  visit 
to  Woolwich  and  was  inquiring  for  the  "  keel-piece." 
This  is  significant,  and  the  impetuous  monarch  was 
doubtless  anxious  to  see  Pett  make  a  beginning  and 
get  the  keel  laid  without  delay. 

But  some  delay  still  continued,  probably  owing  to 
the  scarcity  of  timber,  for  a  few  weeks  later,  on 
June  2,  Pett  writes  again  to  the  Commissioners, 
sending  an  estimate  "  of  the  charge  for  building  a 
new  yacht  for  the  King,"  the  total  cost  of  which  is 
to  be  as  in  the  estimate  above.  Pett  mentions  that 
he  has  abated  the  charge  from  what  was  allowed  for 
the  king's  yacht  Katherine  and  the  Duke's  yacht 
Anne,  because  his  Majesty  intends  to  have  the 
cabins  hung  with  gilded  leather  instead  of  carved 
work  on  the  sides.  There  is  yet  another  reference 
in  these  State  Papers  three  months  later  when 
Christopher  Pett  again  writes  to  the  Commissioners 
to  say  that  repairs  are  needed  to  the  glass  windows 
of  the  Duke  of  York's  yacht  Anne,  which  is  ordered 
to  sail  for  France  on  Monday. 

On    September  6,   1663,   Captain  James  Lambert 


INTO   ENGLAND  145 

of  the  An?ie  yacht  writes  to  inform  the  Commis- 
sioners that  he  cannot  land  Madame  Fiennes  before 
Friday  or  Saturday,  but  will  take  her  on  board  at 
Dover  on  Thursday.  He  has  been  with  the  Queen- 
IVIother,  but,  he  adds  with  a  distinctly  human  touch, 
her  commands  are  too  tedious  to  write.  He  begs 
orders  to  JNI aster  Sheppard  to  set  off  with  all  despatch 
to  attend  the  Duke  of  York  at  Southampton,  and  to 
William  Fasby,  master  of  the  hoy  Kitchen,  to  sail 
with  him,  as  there  will  be  want  of  the  Kitchen  there. 
This  last-mentioned  vessel  was  doubtless  used  as  tender. 
There  is  also  an  Admiralty  Paper  of  December  9  in 
the  same  year,  sent  from  Deptford,  in  which  we  are 
furnished  with  the  list  of  gunners  and  cooks  entered 
on  board  the  Katharine  and  the  Anne. 

In  the  year  1906  two  interesting  historical  docu- 
ments were  sold  in  London  which  are  of  sufficient 
bearing  on  the  subject  to  merit  quoting  here  in  full. 
The  first  is  dated  July  3,  1674,  from  Hampton  Court, 
and  is  addressed  by  Charles  to  the  Navy  Commissioners 
with  reference  to  the  appointment  of  a  new  Master 
Gunner  to  "our  yacht  the  Mary.''  In  addition  to 
the  royal  signature  it  is  countersigned  by  our  friend 
Samuel  Pepys,  and  reads  as  follows : — 

"  Charles  R. 

"  Our  will  and  pleasure  is  that  you  cause  Rowland 
Roberts  to  be  entred  Ma'  Gunner  of  our  Yacht  the 
Mary  in  the  roome  of  [hiatus]  Soshley  whom  AYee 
thinke  fitting  to  discharge  from  that  Employm*, 
together  with  such  allowance  of  Wages  &  Victualls 
for  himselfe  &  servant  as  is  proper  h  usuall  for  y^ 
Ma""  Gunner  of  our  said  Yacht.  Given  at  Our  Honor 
of  Hampton  Court  this  3^  of  July  1674. 
"  To  the  Principall  Officers 
and  Com"  of  Our  Navy. 

"  By  his  Ma^'  Comand, 
"S.  Pepys." 


146     THE   INTRODUCTION    OF   YACHTS 

Another  of  the  yachts  in  Charles'  service  was 
named  the  Fubbs,  which  also  was  the  familiar  royal 
nickname  for  the  somewhat  beamy  Duchess  of  Ports- 
mouth, of  whom  the  king  was  notoriously  fond. 
The  yacht  was  also  beamy,  being  of  the  three  beams 
to  length  type,  and  her  measurements  worked  out 
at  03  ft.  long,  21  ft.  wide,  her  draught  being 
nearly  8  ft.,  her  burthen  148  tons,  and  her  depth 
9|  ft.  She  was  built  in  1682  by  Phineas  Pett  at 
Greenwich.  If  we  may  for  a  moment  pass  out  of 
Charles'  reign  into  the  following  we  shall  be  able  to 
adduce  this  other  royal  document  in  connection  with 
the  seventeenth-century  royal  yachts  of  our  nation. 
This  order  is  dated  from  Whitehall  to  the  Com- 
missioners, directing  them  to  pay  the  wages  of  the 
officers  and  crews  of  the  yachts  Fubbs  and  Navy. 
It  is  signed  by  James  II.  and  again  countersigned 
by  Pepys,  and  reads  thus  : — 

« 

"  James  R. 

"  Our  will  and  pleasure  is,  That  you  cause  the 
Wages  due  to  the  Officers  and  Company  of  Our 
Yachts  the  Fubbs  and  Navy  to  the  25*^^  of  March 
1686,  to  be  paid  as  fast  as  you  shall  be  enabled 
thereto,  by  moneys  to  be  specially  appointed  to  that 
purpose,  by  the  Lords  Commissioners  of  our  Treasy. 
For  which  this  shall  be  your  Warrant.  Given  at 
Our  Court  at  Whitehall  this  7"'  Aprill,  1687. 

"  By  His  Ma*'  Comand, 

"S.  Pepys." 

"  To  Our  Trusty  &  Welbeloved 

S'  John  Tippetts  &  S""  Rich'^  Haddock 

Kn*'  &  James  Sotherne  Esq""® 

Commiss^  of  Our  Navy." 

The  Navy,  it  may  be  mentioned,  was  a  74-tonner, 
and  was  built  by  Sir  Anthony  Deane  at  Portsmouth 
in  1671.     She  measured  48  ft.  long,  17|  ft.  beam,  and 


INTO   ENGLAND  147 

drew  just  over  7  ft.  of  water.  The  appellation  seems 
to  our  mind  somewhat  strange  to  give  to  a  yacht.  The 
origin  of  the  Fubbs  we  have  already  explained.  The 
Katherine  was  named,  of  course,  after  Charles'  wife, 
Katherine  of  Portugal.  The  Dunkirk  was  also  a 
reasonable  name,  for  that  port  was  at  one  time  an 
English  possession,  and  was  only  sold  to  tlie  French 
in  the  year  16G2.  It  will  be  recollected  tliat  this 
transaction  made  Clarendon  very  unpopular,  for  it 
was  said  that  he  had  been  bribed,  and  a  new  house 
that  he  was  building  was  nicknamed  "  Dunkirk 
House."  And  so  we  might  go  on  and  find  the 
cause  of  the  names  that  were  given  to  the  various 
other  yachts.  But  there  are  two  other  references 
about  this  time  in  Pepys'  Diarij  which  we  must  not 
omit.     The  first  belongs  to  July  26,  1662,  and  reads : — 

"  This  afternoon  I  had  a  letter  from  Mr.  Creed, 
who  hath  escaped  narrowly  in  the  King's  yacht,  and 
got  safe  to  the  Downs  after  the  late  storm  ;  and  that 
there  the  King  do  tell  him  that  he  is  sure  that  my 
Lord  is  landed  at  Callis  safe." 

As  to  which  of  these  yachts  is  here  referred  to  we 
know  not,  but  she  was  most  probably  one  of  the  larger 
craft.  We  called  attention  just  now  to  the  fact  that 
the  king  was  contemplating  building  a  new  yacht,  and 
that  Pett  had  been  asked  to  send  in  estimates  for  the 
cost  thereof.  Her  name  was  the  Henrietta,  after 
Charles'  mother.  From  the  following  extract  in  Pepys' 
Diary  we  see  another  instance  that  the  king  was 
content  not  only  to  be  an  amateur  helmsman,  but  had 
certain  ideas  of  his  own  in  respect  of  naval  architecture, 
and  was  wishful  to  give  to  these  a  concrete  shape. 
"  For,"  writes  the  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty,  "  we 
walked  to  AYhite  Hall,  and  meeting  the  King,  we  fol- 
lowed him  into  the  Park,  where  Mr.  Coventry  and 
he  talked  of  building  a  new  yacht,  which  the  King  is 
resolved  to  have  built  out  of  his  privy  purse,  he  having 
some  contrivance  of  his  own." 


148     THE   INTRODUCTION    OF   YACHTS 

This  "  contrivance  "  consisted  of  lead  sheathing,  as 
we  shall  mention  presently.  It  is  possible  that  Charles 
may  have  also  been  anxious  to  minimise  the  excessive 
sheer  of  the  day,  and  to  diminish  the  amount  of  top- 
hamper,  for  it  was  no  rare  custom  about  this  time  to 
cut  one  of  the  ships  of  the  navy  down  a  deck  and  make 
her  less  top-heavy.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is  also  pos- 
sible that  Charles  realised  that  he  could  get  an  improve- 
ment to  the  hull  if  he  gave  his  yachts  less  beam  and  a 
proportionately  greater  length.  It  is  indeed  evident 
enough  that  the  royal  mind  was  ever  occupied  with 
the  welfare  of  his  yachts  and  their  possible  improve- 
ments. And  here  let  us  redeem  our  promise  made 
a  few  pages  back  in  reference  to  the  Bezan.  For  some 
reason  or  other  this  little  ship  seems  to  have  taken  a 
back  place  in  Charles'  interest  before  long.  Either 
he  got  tired  of  her  as  he  did  of  some  of  his  lady  friends, 
or  his  newer  craft  showed  themselves  so  much  superior 
to  the  Dutch  yacht  that  she  became  outclassed.  At 
any  rate,  the  only  person  who  seems  to  have  used  her 
was  Pepys,  to  whom  she  was  to  all  intents  and  purposes 
his  own  private  property. 

This  gay  bon  viveur,  as  devoted  an  apostle  of 
hedonism  as  his  royal  master,  found  the  Bezan  a 
delightful  means  of  recreation.  He  was  able  to  get 
away  from  the  cares  and  worries  of  the  Admiralty, 
which  in  those  days  of  pohtical  corruption,  bribery,  and 
dockyard  theft  were  innumerable  and  incessant,  and 
could  forget  his  troubles  as  the  wind  and  tide  carried 
him  pleasantly  down  the  Thames.  For  in  those  days 
the  London  river  was  indeed  enjoyable.  The  Thames 
mud  was  there  as  it  shows  up  to-day,  but  there  was 
comparatively  little  traffic,  and  of  course  it  was  many 
a  long  day  before  the  eternal  stream  of  steam  liners, 
tramps,  and  every  kind  of  mechanically  propelled  craft 
took  away  the  peace  and  pleasure  of  sailing  on  the 
lower  reaches. 

As  we  can  see  from    contemporary  sketches,  the 


INTO   ENGLAND  149 

banks  of  tlie  Thames  were  indeed  beautiful,  and  the 
sun  shed  its  rays  not  on  the  unsympathetic  lines  of 
chimneys,  dilapidated  wharves,  cement  works,  gaso- 
meters, or  other  offences  to  the  eye,  but  the  wind 
blew  true  across  the  green  grass  and  bellowed  the 
Holland  duck  of  the  sails  with  which  these  bluff-bowed 
State  craft  were  rigged.  It  came  laden  with  no  foul 
gases  from  factory  or  refuse-heap ;  there  was  no  cease- 
less churning  of  the  river  by  thrashing  propellers,  and 
the  certainty  of  a  collision  looming  up  at  every  bend 
of  the  river.  On  the  contrary,  it  was  scarcely  less  a 
pleasure  than  the  Solent  to-day  is  to  the  sailing-man 
who  is  worn  out  with  the  rush  and  work  of  the  big 
city.  Thus  we  must  think  of  Pepys  comfortably 
placed  on  board  the  Bezan,  with  the  sun  pouring 
down  on  the  yacht,  well-victualled  as  she  certainly 
was  ere  Mr.  Pepys  ever  put  to  sea.  He  was  very 
fond  of  sailing  down  to  the  Nore,  there  to  admire  the 
crack  man-of-war  of  that  time,  for  it  was  a  pleasant 
way  of  combining  business  with  recreation,  and  of 
giving  Mrs.  Pepys  an  opportunity  of  showing  her 
sympathy  in  her  husband's  interests. 

"  August  12,  1665. — I  down  to  Greenwich  and 
sent  away  the  Bezan,  thinking  to  go  with  my  wife 
to-night,  to  come  back  again  to-morrow  night  to  the 
Soveraigne  at  the  buoy  off  the  Nore." 

The  Soveraigne,  of  course,  was  the  famous  battleship 
Sovereigu  of  tJie  Seas,  a  great  creature  of  1652  tons, 
which  was  not  merely  the  pride  of  England,  but  the 
admiration  and  envy  of  both  France  and  Holland.  She 
was  the  first  three-decker  which  the  English  navy 
ever  possessed,  but  was  afterwards  cut  down  a  deck. 
Originally  she  had  four  masts,  but  one  was  afterwards 
taken  out  of  her.  With  her  beak  and  figurehead,  her 
gi-eat  spars,  and  her  100  guns,  she  made  a  fine  objective 
for  Pepys'  aquatic  excursions  as  she  lay  to  her  buoy 
or  swinging  to  her  anchor  near  the  mouth  of  the 
Med  way.     She  had  been  built  as  far  back  as  the  year 


150     THE   INTRODUCTION    OF   YACHTS 

1637,  and  though  now  nearly  thirty  years  old,  she  was 
still  a  source  of  keen  interest,  her  alterations,  which  we 
noted  above,  having  taken  place  in  1652.  She  had 
been  designed  by  Phineas  Pett  and  built  under  the 
supervision  of  Peter  Pett,  but  was  practically  rebuilt 
in  1684. 

And  so  with  a  suitable  yacht  in  which  to  run  down 
the  Nore  on  nice  summer  days,  with  plenty  to  eat 
and  drink,  and  plenty  of  good  fellowship,  with  the 
authority  of  his  office  to  ensure  every  attention,  the 
Bezan  was  a  very  considerable  convenience  to  Mr. 
Pepys. 

"We  down  to  the  water,"  he  writes  on  August  17, 
1665,  "and  by  boat  to  Greenwich  to  the  Bezan  yacht, 
where  Sir  W.  Batten,  Sir  J.  Minnes,  my  Lord  Bruncker, 
and  myself,  with  some  servants  (among  others  Mr. 
Carcasse,  my  Lord's  clerk,  a  very  civil  gentleman), 
embarked  in  the  yacht,  and  down  we  went  most 
pleasantly.  .  .  .  Short  of  Gravesend  it  grew  calm,  and 
so  we  come  to  an  anchor,  and  the  supper  mighty  merry  ; 
and  after  it,  being  moonshine,  we  out  of  the  cabin  to 
laugh  and  talk,  and  then,  as  we  grew  sleepy,  went  in, 
and  upon  velvet  cushions  of  the  King's  that  belong  to 
the  yacht  fell  to  sleep,  which  we  all  did  pretty  well 
till  3  or  4  of  the  clock,  having  risen  in  the  night  to 
look  for  a  new  comet.  .  .  ." 

"  18///. — Up  about  5  o'clock  and  dressed  our- 
selves, and  to  sayle  again  down  to  the  Soveraigjie  at 
the  buoy  of  the  Nore,  a  noble  ship,  now  rigged  and 
fitted  and  manned  .  .  ,  thence  to  Sheerness.  .  .  . 
Thence  with  great  pleasure  up  the  INIeadeway,  our 
yacht  contending  with  Commissioner  Pett's,  wherein 
he  met  us  from  Chatham,  and  he  had  the  best  of  it. 
Here  I  come  by,  but  had  not  tide  enough  to  stop  at 
Quinborough." 

And  again,  exactly  a  month  later,  he  was  out  for 
another  little  cruise.  "  I  walked  to  AA^oolwich,"  he 
writes,  "...  and  by  the  time  I  was  ready  they  come 


INTO   ENGLAND  151 

down  in  the  Bezan  yacht,  and  so  I  aboard  and  my  boy 
Tom,  and  there  very  merrily  we  sailed  to  below  Graves- 
end,  and  there  came  to  anchor  for  all  night,  and  supped 
and  talked,  and  with  much  pleasure  at  last  settled 
ourselves  to  sleep,  having  very  good  lodging  upon 
cushions  in  the  cabin."  The  next  day  they  continued 
their  cruise,  and  called  on  the  Prince  Royal,  which  had 
been  built  by  Phineas  Pett  in  the  year  1610.  She  was, 
when  first  commissioned,  the  largest  and  finest  man-of- 
war  in  the  world,  though  there  was  an  unfortunate 
contretemps  at  the  time  of  her  launching.  So  it  was 
but  natural  that  the  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty  should 
take  his  boy  down  the  river  to  admire  one  of  the  three 
finest  ships  in  the  English  navy.  Arrived  near  this 
big  vessel,  the  Bezan  let  go  anchor  some  distance  astern 
of  her,  and  a  ship's  boat  was  sent  out  from  the  Prince 
Royal  to  tow  the  Bezan  against  wind  and  tide,  which 
were  so  strong  that  had  not  the  Piince  thrown  them  a 
line  to  the  Bezan  the  yacht  would  have  been  compelled 
to  wait  where  she  was.  Remembering  the  strength  of 
the  Med  way  tide  coming  in  and  out  by  the  Nore,  we 
cannot  wonder  that  the  Dutch  craft  with  her  bluff  lines 
was  unable  to  turn  to  windward  against  it.  Mr.  Pepys, 
being  now  brought  alongside,  went  aboard,  and  passed 
the  hours  pleasantly  in  professional  conversation  until 
the  time  came  to  get  under  way  again. 

"So  to  our  yacht  again,"  he  continues.  .  .  .  "No 
sooner  come  into  the  yacht,  though  overjoyed  with  the 
good  work  we  have  done  to-day,  but  I  was  overcome 
with  sea  sickness  so  that  I  begun  to  spue  soundly,  and 
so  continued  a  good  while,  till  at  last  I  went  into  the 
cabbin,  and,  shutting  my  eyes,  my  troubles  did  cease 
that  I  fell  asleep,  which  continued  till  we  come  into 
Chatham  river,  where  the  water  was  smooth,  and  then 
I  rose  and  was  very  well." 

Doubtless  the  tide  had  changed  whilst  he  had  been 
paying  his  call  on  the  warship,  so  that  when  he  returned 
to  the  Bezan  she  was  a  little  lively  with  wind  against 


152     THE    INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

tide.  This,  together  with  the  excellent  hospitality 
which  would  be  dispensed  while  on  board  the  Prince 
Royal,  caused  even  a  Secretary  of  the  Admiralty  to 
have  unpleasant  qualms.  But  that  did  not  kill  his 
enthusiasm,  for  a  few  days  later,  on  the  last  day  of 
September,  we  find  him  off  again  in  the  same  craft 
to  spend  another  week-end.  "...  And  we  three  and 
two  companions  of  his  in  the  evening  by  agreement 
took  ship  in  the  Bezan,  and  the  tide  carried  us  no 
further  than  Woolwich  about  8  at  night."  So 
Pepys  goes  ashore  to  sleep,  and  early  the  next  morn- 
ing comes  aboard  again.  "  October  1st  (Lord's  Day). — 
Called  up  about  4  of  the  clock,  and  so  dressed  myself 
and  so  on  board  the  Bezan,  and  there  finding  all  my 
company  asleep  I  would  not  wake  them,  but  it  begin- 
ning to  be  break  of  day  I  did  stay  upon  the  decke 
walking,  and  then  into  the  Maister's  cabbin,  and  there 
laid  and  slept  a  little." 

Presently  they  get  under  way  and  sail  down  to 
have  a  look  at  the  fleet  as  usual,  and  then  sail  up  the 
Medway.  "  So  after  supper  Captain  Cocke  and  I  and 
Temple  on  board  the  Bezan  .  .  .  we  having  sailed  all 
night  (and  I  do  wonder  how  they  in  the  dark  could 
find  the  way),  we  got  by  morning  to  Gillingham,  and 
thence  all  walked  to  Chatham,"  after  which  they  "took 
horses  to  Gravesend,"  and  so  back  to  town.  This,  then, 
seems  to  have  been  Pepys'  favourite  cruise,  down  the 
Thames  and  up  the  Medway,  and  then  home  by  land, 
the  crew  apparently  sailing  the  yacht  back  to  her  buoy 
during  the  course  of  the  week.  And  there  are  still  other 
extracts  that  we  could  quote  to  show  Pepys'  love  of 
the  new  sport  and  the  manner  in  which  yachting  was 
indulged  in  during  this  reign.  Three  more  instances 
belong  to  the  same  year,  and  one  sees  that  Pepys  was 
so  keenly  attached  to  sailing  that  he  kept  up  his  week- 
ends until  five  weeks  before  Christmas.     Thus  : — 

"  October  25,  1665. — After  dinner  my  Lord  by  a 
ketch  down  to  Erith,  where  the  Bezan  was." 


INTO   ENGLAND  153 

''November  3,  1665. — AVas  called  up  about  four 
o'clock,  and  in  tlie  darke  by  lanthorne,  took  boat  and 
to  the  ketch  and  set  sayle,  sleeping  a  little  in  the 
Cabbin  till  day." 

-'  Novembei'  17,  1665. — And  so  away  to  my  Bezan 
againe  .  .  .  and  sayled  all  night,  and  came  to  Erith 
before  break  of  day." 

Thus  from  this  time  onwards  yachts  of  various  sizes 
continued  to  be  built  in  the  English  yards  at  Deptford 
and  Chatham,  Portsmouth,  Rotherhithe,  and  so  on, 
the  tendency  being  to  turn  out  craft  of  larger  tonnage. 
There  were  various  minds  at  work  on  the  problem  of 
designing  a  faster  type  of  craft.  We  have  already  seen 
Charles  introducing  to  Pett  a  new  type  of  vessel ;  we 
have  seen  the  king  fanning  the  rivalry  between  the  two 
brothers  in  order  that  the  best  possible  yacht  should  be 
evolved  to  beat  the  Mary ;  we  have  seen  that  Charles 
even  went  so  far  as  to  help  to  design,  or  at  any  rate  to 
give  the  bare  outline  for  a  new  and  improved  type.  He 
also  insisted  that  what  was  commonly  supposed  to  be 
a  new  device  (of  which  we  spoke  earlier  in  this  chapter) 
should  be  applied  to  the  Henrietta,  by  having  her 
under-water  body  sheathed  with  lead,  the  precursor 
of  the  later  development  of  giving  yachts  copper 
sheathing,  but  owing  to  the  corrosion  which  set  up, 
this  lead  system,  which  was  also  tried  on  some  of  the 
ships  of  war,  was  abandoned. 

In  truth,  this  was  not  a  new  idea  but  a  revival  of  a 
very  old  nautical  custom,  as  I  have  already  explained 
in  the  pages  of  another  volume.  And  in  the  year  1662 
— the  year  before  the  king  was  busy  with  his  device 
for  the  Henrietta — Sir  William  Petty  had  designed 
and  launched  a  wonderful  craft  which  much  interested 
Charles,  insomuch  that  the  latter  was  present  to  see 
her  enter  the  water  for  the  first  time,  and  named  her 
the  Experiment.  This  vessel  consisted  of  two  bottoms 
or  keels,  as  she  was  described.  She  was  practically  a 
catamaran,  and   it  is  probable  that    Sir   William  had 


154     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

received  the  idea  from  some  one  who  had  travelled 
abroad.  It  was  five  days  before  Christmas  when  the 
launch  took  place,  and  Pepys  also  was  present.  She 
was  practically  a  freak,  and  has  no  historical  value  in 
regard  to  the  evolution  of  the  yacht,  but  it  is  illus- 
trative of  the  enthusiasm  which  had  been  aroused 
within  a  year  or  two  owing  to  the  gift  from  the 
Dutch  East  India  Company. 

Certainly  the  Eccperime?it  was  not  slow.  A  match 
was  arranged  for  a  wager  of  £50  to  race  from  Dublin 
to  Holyhead  next  year  between  her  and  the  "  packett- 
boat,"  and  the  Ea.'peri7nent  won  easily.  Add  to  this 
the  fact  that  there  was  a  gale  blowing  at  the  time, 
and  it  is  proof  of  the  seaworthy  qualities  which  this 
craft  must  have  possessed.  She  had  a  burthen  of 
thirty  tons,  carried  thirty  men,  had  good  accommo- 
dation, and  ten  guns.  This  is  an  interesting  contest, 
as  having  been  the  first  ocean  race  on  record.  Even- 
tually the  Experiment  foundered  with  all  hands  in  the 
Bay  of  Biscay.  But  her  designer,  who  was  one  of  the 
most  intellectual  men  of  his  time  and  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Royal  Society,  spent  a  good  deal  of 
time  and  work  on  this  double-bottom  idea,  and  devised 
a  number  of  other  craft  so  arranged. 

It  is  now  time  to  speak  of  the  second  yacht  Mary, 
which  belongs  to  this  reign,  which  has  been,  so  to 
speak,  brought  to  life  again  in  our  frontispiece.  The 
first  Mary,  it  will  be  remembered,  foundered,  and  it  is 
clear  that  the  second  3Iary  was  built  on  very  similar 
lines,  but  somewhat  larger.  In  his  interesting  History 
of  YacJiting,  to  which  I  am  indebted  for  certain  facts 
and  suggestions.  Captain  A.  H.  Clark  asserts  that  "  it  is 
rather  strange  that  there  should  be  only  one  portrait  of 
English  yachts  at  this  period,"  and  he  proceeds  to  refer 
to  a  painting  in  a  private  collection. 

But  this  is  an  error.  It  certainly  would  be  strange 
when  we  recollect  that  the  Van  der  Veldes,  both  father 
and  son,  came  over  to  England  specially  to  depict  sea- 


Fig.  33- 


The  English  Yacht,  the  Second  "Mary" 


p.  155 


From  a  contemporary  sketch  by  Van  der  Velde.     Notice  the  absence  of  leeboards. 
Sheerness  is  seen  to  the  right  of  the  picture. 


Fig-  34- 


Some  of  Charles  IPs  Yachts 


Reading  from  left  to  right  these  are  the  "  Katherine,"  "  Charlotte,"  "  Portsmouth,"  "  Navy," 
"  Greyhound,"  and  "  Anne."     (From  a  contemporary  sketch  by  Van  der  Velde.) 


INTO   ENGLAND  155 

pictures,  and  were  established  at  Greenwich  by  Charles  1 1 . 
There  are  still  preserved  some  delightful  pictures  in 
pencil  and  Indian  ink  of  all  sorts  of  marine  subjects 
by  Van  der  Velde,  depicting  the  shipping  of  the  time. 
Our  present  study  is  concerned  only  with  the  fore-and- 
afters  which  appear  in  these  drawings,  and  in  order  to 
rivet  the  attention  of  the  reader,  and  to  prove  that 
contemporary  illustrations  of  the  Mary  and  other 
yachts  that  we  have  mentioned  do  exist,  the  two 
accompanying  pictures  by  Van  der  Velde  (Figs.  33 
and  34)  are  here  reproduced.  It  is  not  possible  to 
assert  the  exact  year  when  these  two  painters  arrived 
in  England.  It  was  not  earlier  than  1673,  and  was 
probably  1675.  The  son's  work  is  so  similar  to  his 
father's  that  art  critics  admit  that  it  is  practically 
impossible  to  distinguish  the  one  from  the  other. 
But  those  which  are  here  reproduced  are  thought  to 
be  by  the  son. 

In  Holland  the  Dutch  States  had  provided  him 
with  a  yacht  specially  to  draw  marine  subjects  and 
sea-fights,  and  there  is  still  extant  a  drawing  of  the 
Battle  of  Solebay,  in  the  composition  of  which  he  has 
actually  depicted  not  only  the  warships,  but  his  yacht 
as  well  in  the  foreground.  Now,  in  the  first  of  the 
drawings  which  the  reader  will  find  interest  in  per- 
using there  will  be  noticed  on  the  extreme  left  the 
English  yacht  Mary  the  second.  Her  dimensions  were  : 
length,  66^  ft.  ;  beam,  21^  ft.  ;  depth,  8f  ft.  ; 
draught,  7^  ft.  Her  tonnage  worked  out  at  166, 
so  that  she  was  exactly  sixty-six  tons  larger  than  her 
prototype.  She  carried  twenty  men  and  six  guns. 
This  yacht  was  built  in  the  year  1677  at  Chatham  by 
Phineas  Pett,  and  this  \^an  der  Velde  sketch  was 
drawn  in  November  of  that  year,  so  that  we  see  the 
yacht  probably  at  her  best.  The  incident  here  depicted 
is  the  starting  of  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Orange  on 
November  20,  1677,  bound  for  Holland. 

It  will  be  recollected  that  their  marriage  had  taken 


156     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

place  on  November  4.  The  royal  pair  are  on  board 
the  Mary,  which  is  just  sailing  away,  and  the  fort  at 
Sheerness  is  firing  a  royal  salute,  which  the  Mary  is 
answering.  The  similarity  between  this  yacht  and  that 
in  the  Verschuier  sketch  (and  so  between  the  first  and 
the  second  Mary)  will  be  immediately  remarked.  But 
this  Mary  II.,  instead  of  the  spritsail  has  a  gaff  main- 
sail, and  no  boom.  The  jib  works  on  the  foretopmast- 
stay  as  the  foresail  works  on  the  forestay,  so  that  both 
sails  can  be  easily  lowered  and  stowed.  There  is  a  Jack 
flying  at  the  outer  end  of  the  bowsprit  and  an  ensign 
at  the  stern,  as  well  as  a  royal  standard  at  the  mast- 
head. It  is  clear  from  the  other  shipping,  which  is  seen 
in  the  background  of  this  picture,  that  there  certainly 
were  by  this  date  fore-and-aft  craft  in  English  waters 
that  were  not  yachts. 

The  reader  will  observe  that  they  resemble  Dutch 
tjalks,  and  if  they  are  not  foreign  vessels,  then  they  are 
English  trading  craft  based  on  Dutch  models.  One 
has  a  boom,  a  second  has  a  gafF  but  no  boom,  and  so 
also  the  third.  It  is  extremely  interesting  to  notice 
this  point,  for  it  shows  that  the  fore-and-aft  rig  was 
more  frequently  seen  in  our  waters  than  is  generally 
suspected.  There  is  no  question  that  Van  der  Velde 
was  drawing  an  imaginary  picture,  for  he  has  recorded 
the  fact  that  he  did  this  picture  on  the  morning  of  the 
date  here  given,  and  those  other  fore-and-afters  must 
have  been  there  as  shown. 

The  other  illustrations  in  Fig.  34  is  the  second  half 
of  this  Van  der  Velde  original.  The  picture  has  been 
reproduced  in  two  sections  so  as  to  preserve  the  details 
as  much  as  possible.  In  addition  to  the  Mary,  the 
reader  will  find,  reading  from  left  to  right,  some  of  the 
other  yachts  that  we  have  been  talking  of.  These  are 
the  KatJierine,  the  Charlotte  (nearly  out  of  sight),  the 
Portsmouth,  the  Navy  (nearly  out  of  sight),  the  Grey- 
hound, and  the  Anne,  the  two  last-mentioned  just 
showing  their  bows  and  figureheads.      It  is  possible, 


INTO   ENGLAND  157 

while  looking  at  these  drawings,  and  bearing  in  mind 
the  sea-pictures  which  Pepys  and  Evelyn  have  drawn 
for  us  by  their  pens,  to  gain  an  impression  not  very 
different  from  that  which  would  have  been  received  had 
we  been  present  to  see  these  craft  in  the  latter  half  of 
the  seventeenth  century.  And  these  drawings  form 
some  of  the  most  valuable  evidence  which  exists  in 
respect  of  our  subject. 

There  is  another  drawing  by  the  same  artist  made 
the  previous  day  which  we  do  not  reproduce.  It  shows 
an  earlier  stage  of  this  royal  voyage  on  November  19. 
In  that  delightfully  sunny  picture  we  see  the  Mary 
getting  under  way  from  Erith.  There  are  other  craft 
in  the  picture  as  well,  including  the  yacht  Portsmouth, 
which  in  size,  in  rig,  in  general  appearance,  with  her 
three  poop-lanterns,  is  very  similar  to  the  Mary.  The 
men  on  the  latter  are  seen  getting  up  anchor.  There 
is  some  bunting  at  the  jack-staff  at  the  end  of  the  bow- 
sprit. The  jib  is  already  set,  so  is  the  square-topsail, 
which  is  provided  with  leather  chafing-pieces  and  the 
usual  barren  yard  below.  The  staysail  has  been  hoisted, 
but  is  stowed  to  the  stay  according  to  the  Dutch  cus- 
tom. The  gaff — boomless — mainsail  is  up,  of  course, 
and  the  brail-line  is  being  slacked  off  so  as  to  allow  the 
full  spread  of  canvas.  The  yacht  carries  two  anchors, 
one  on  either  side,  and  has  also  a  cathead  on  either 
bow.  One  anchor  is  up,  the  other  is  being  broken  out, 
and  it  is  a  fiat  calm  as  one  not  infrequently  has  it  in 
the  month  of  November.  The  Mary  displays  four  of 
her  guns  through  her  port-holes.  Erith  shore  is  seen 
glistening  in  the  sunlight  at  the  back  of  the  picture, 
and  the  yachts  Arme  and  Katherine  are  both  again 
shown. 

Thanks,  then,  to  Charles  II.,  to  his  previous  exile  in 
the  Low  Countries,  to  the  historic  present  from  the 
Dutch,  to  the  excitement  and  interest  which  the  first 
Mary  aroused  alike  among  shipbuilders  and  gossips, 
and  thanks  also  to  the  continued  enthusiasm  of  Charles 


158     THE    INTRODUCTION    OF   YACHTS 

himself,  yacht  building  and  racing  had  made  a  sure 
beginning  in  England.  Society  displayed  their  interest, 
and,  in  addition  to  Petty,  it  was  not  long  before  Queen 
Katherine  and  the  Duke  of  Richmond  had  become 
yacht-owners.  The  enthusiasm  even  spread  to  France, 
and  Charles  permitted  Sir  Anthony  Deane  to  go  to 
France  to  build  a  couple  of  yachts  for  Louis  XV. 
There  is  a  brief  mention  in  Pepys'  Diary  which  shows 
that  yachting  in  these  fore-and-afters  was  becoming 
fashionable  under  Charles'  influence.  On  September  3, 
1663,  writes  the  diarist : — 

"  Up  betimes,  and  for  an  hour  at  my  viall  before 
my  people  rise.  Then  up  to  the  office  a  while,  and 
then  to  Sir  W.  Batten,  who  is  going  this  day  for 
pleasure  down  to  the  Downes.  I  eat  a  breakfast  with 
them,  and  at  my  Lady's  desire  with  them  by  coach  to 
Greenwich,  where  I  went  aboard  with  them  on  the 
Charlotte  yacht.  The  wind  very  fresh,  and  I  believe 
they  will  be  all  sicke  enough,  besides  that  she  is  mighty 
troublesome  on  the  water.  ...  I  left  them  under  sayle, 
and  I  to  Deptford." 

Pepys'  prognostications  came  true,  for  on  Septem- 
ber 5  he  adds : — 

"  I  hear  this  day  that  Sir  W.  Batten  was  fain  to 
put  ashore  at  Queenborough  with  my  Lady,  who  has 
been  so  sick  she  swears  never  to  go  to  sea  again.  But 
it  happens  well  that  Holmes  is  come  home  into  the 
Downes,  where  he  will  meet  my  Lady,  and  it  may  do 
her  more  good  than  she  looked  for." 

Thus  to  the  existing  list  the  name  of  Sir  W.  Batten 
must  be  added  as  a  seventeenth-century  yachtsman. 
But  there  was  much  to  interfere  with  the  progress  of 
this  sport  during  this  reign.  Most  of  all,  there  were  the 
Anglo-Dutch  wars,  which  made  it  impossible  to  cruise 
round  to  the  Downs  and  across  to  France.  For  when 
the  Dutch  were  frequently  hovering  about  the  North 
Foreland,  the  mouth  of  the  Thames,  and  even — scandal- 
ous to  remember — were  allowed  to  sail  up  the  Medway 


INTO   ENGLAND  159 

and  burn  our  warships,  it  was  more  tlian  enough  to 
stifle  the  sport  for  a  good  time.  But  the  yachts  them- 
selves were  none  the  less  used  even  if  the  sport  was 
suspended.  Just  as  the  Dutch  had  been  wont  to  use 
yachts  in  naval  warfare,  so  the  English  navy  did  not 
hesitate  so  to  employ  them.  And,  additional  to  the 
Dutch  warfare,  we  must  not  forget  that  first  the  Plague 
of  London  and  secondly  the  Great  Fire  had  a  terribly 
depressing  influence  on  even  the  pleasure-seeking  people 
of  Charles'  reign. 

Thus  there  followed  a  depression  in  the  sport  which 
had  begun  so  well,  in  the  development  of  the  rig  which 
had  been  introduced  with  such  appreciation,  in  the 
building  of  a  new  type  of  hull  which  liad  immediately 
been  improved  upon  by  the  Petts  and  others.  Domestic 
peace  is  essential  for  the  enjoyment  of  sports  as  well  as 
the  arts  and  sciences,  and  a  new  sport  can  suffer  violent 
shocks  with  less  ability  than  one  which  has  existed  for 
a  century  or  more.  However,  it  is  evident  that  the 
yachting  idea  did  not  die  utterly  during  the  time  of 
trouble  and  national  anxiety  when  the  war  was  draining 
the  financial  resources  of  the  country  in  the  most  serious 
manner.  For,  at  any  rate,  not  more  than  thirty-five 
years  after  Charles'  death  there  were  enough  yachts  in 
existence  to  found  the  first  yachting  club  which  our 
nation  possessed.  And  this,  if  you  please,  was  not  on 
the  Thames,  nor  on  the  south  coast.  It  was  in  a 
quarter  where  it  would  have  been  least  expected. 

Not  England  nor  Scotland,  but  Ireland  had  been 
building  and  sailing  these  craft,  and  in  the  year  1720 
the  existing  yachts  and  yachtsmen  were  the  cause  of 
the  inauguration  of  the  Cork  Water  Club,  which  to-day 
still  continues  under  the  title  of  the  Royal  Cork  Yacht 
Club.  And  as  to  the  effect  which  this  had  on  the 
yachts  of  the  time,  as  to  the  relation  which  Cork  bears 
to  Amsterdam,  and  the  rig  of  its  yachts  to  the  fore- 
and-afters  of  Holland,  we  shall  inquire  in  the  following 
chapter. 


160     THE   INTRODUCTION   OF   YACHTS 

But  let  this  be  remembered,  that  there  was  no  such 
sport  as  what  is  known  to-day  as  Corinthian  yachting. 
It  was  as  formal  as  a  minuet,  as  ceremonious  as  the 
prevailing  insincerities  of  the  life  and  epistles  during 
that  time.  It  was  an  age  when  pompousness  was 
respected,  and  a  similar  spirit  manifested  itself,  as  we 
shall  see,  in  the  style  of  yachting  then  in  vogue.  To- 
day there  is  a  democratic  spirit  not  merely  on  land 
but  afloat.  Yachts  put  to  sea  when  they  like  and 
separately,  whereas  in  the  early  eighteenth  century 
they  cruised  in  fleets  and  were  under  discipline  all  the 
time.  The  love  of  the  sea  and  of  ships  must  neces- 
sarily have  been  present,  otherwise  the  Irish  noblemen 
and  gentlemen  would  have  preferred  some  other  form 
of  sport  in  which  to  interest  themselves.  But  there 
were  other  considerations  as  well. 

The  yacht  or  sailing  club  of  those  days  was  some- 
what different  from  such  institutions  to-day.  Formerly 
there  was  a  kind  of  semi-naval  dignity  and  distinction 
attached  thereto,  there  was  all  the  saluting  to  which 
an  admiral  is  entitled,  there  was  the  display  of  tactics, 
and  so  on.  Finally,  after  an  interesting  day  had  been 
spent  in  signalling  and  manoeuvring,  the  fleet  returned 
to  harbour,  the  crew  stowed  the  sails,  and  the  gallant 
owners  went  ashore  to  enjoy  a  hearty  dinner  and  their 
bottles  of  port.  Yachting  was  thus  rather  a  series  of 
exercises  than  of  races  ;  rather  an  occasional  event  of 
social  importance  than  a  voyage  of  discovery  round  the 
coast,  entering  harbours  never  visited  before,  or  stealing 
into  those  snug  creeks  which  the  yachtsman  of  to-day 
loves  to  choose  as  his  quiet  anchorage  for  the  night. 
Moreover,  the  style  of  the  yachts  was  modified  in  such 
a  way  as  to  show  their  close  relationship  to  the  great 
ships  of  the  English  navy,  and,  further  back  still,  to  the 
vessels  which  had  come  from  Holland.  The  influence 
of  the  first  Mary  was  indeed  restrained,  yet  it  was  not 
altogether  obliterated  in  the  designs  of  the  eighteenth- 
century  pleasure  fore-and-afters. 


CHAPTER   VI 

THE    INFLUENCE    OF    HOLLAND    ON    THE    DEVELOPMENT 
OF    THE    FORE-AND-AFT    RIG 

NOW  that  we  have  seen  the  development  of  the 
fore-and-aft  rig  in  Holland,  as  well  as  the  intro- 
duction of  the  first  fore-and-afters,  or  at  any  rate  of  the 
first  fore-and-aft  yachts  into  England,  we  are  in  a 
position  to  follow  the  development  of  this  new  rig,  and 
to  observe  how  from  the  time  when  Holland  had 
reached  her  grand  climax  the  history  of  the  rig  passes 
away  from  the  Low  Countries. 

We  have  seen  that  it  is  certain  that  until  the  advent 
of  the  Marij  there  was  no  such  thing  as  a  yacht  in 
English  life.  Whether  there  were,  prior  to  this,  any 
fore-and-afters  for  trading  or  fishing  purposes  is  ex- 
tremely doubtful  and  impossible  to  say  definitely.  If 
they  existed  at  all  they  were  only  in  isolated  instances, 
and  were  not  the  rule  but  the  exception.  I  am  confident 
that  the  herring  fishermen  did  not  employ  the  fore-and- 
aft  rig,  but,  following  the  example  of  their  Dutch 
rivals,  put  to  see  in  buss-ships.  Now,  from  an  interest- 
ing little  book,  whose  folios  are  not  numbered,  and 
published  in  London  in  the  year  1615,  we  are  able  to 
gain  a  pretty  exact  idea  of  these  craft,  the  counterpart 
of  those  other  vessels  which  put  forth  from  the  Dutch 
ports  to  catch  the  herrings  of  the  North  Sea.  They 
were  rigged  in  a  similar  manner  to  the  Dutch  herring- 
drifters  with  three  masts  and  one  square-sail  on  each — 
from  which  rig  there  was  to  evolve  the  three-masted 
lugger  which  is  so  familiar  a  feature  in  many  of  the 

161  J 


162       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

old  illustrations  of  the  eighteenth  and  early  nineteenth 
centuries. 

Therefore,  as  the  immediate  forerunner  of  the  Deal 
lugger,  the  old  Yarmouth  "  yawl,"  the  French  chasse- 
mar^e,  and  the  armed  lugger — each  of  these  having 
originally  three  masts  with  lugsail  on  each — we  may  see 
briefly  the  character  of  the  English  buss-ship  which  was 
to  give  to  English  craft  that  development  of  the  fore- 
and-aft  rig  that  is  of  all  examples  one  most  akin  to  the 
original  square-sail.  Although  in  England  the  lugsail 
is  being  replaced  by  the  ketch,  yet  in  Scotland  and 
France  the  rig  seems  to  hold  its  own  among  the  fisher- 
men, but  in  some  ports  the  lug  is  vanishing.  At  one 
time  it  was  a  favourite  rig  for  the  smugglers  which  the 
Revenue-cutters  of  our  Government  went  forth  to 
chase,  but  the  lugger  is  wonderfully  fast  on  a  wind, 
as  any  one  who  has  ever  matched  an  average  cutter 
against  one  must  know.  And  it  was  because  of  their 
speed,  because  they  so  often  succeeded  in  showing  a 
clean  pair  of  heels  to  the  Revenue-cruisers,  that  ulti- 
mately the  British  Government  had  to  follow  their 
example  and  to  build  armed  luggers  to  cope  with 
them ;  but,  like  the  old  Yarmouth  yawls,  besides  the 
lug  on  each  of  the  three  masts  they  carried  a  jib,  and 
in  addition  the  armed  lugger  carried  a  topsail  on  her 
fore  and  main. 

But  to  come  back  to  the  seventeenth-century  English 
busses :  these  were  of  about  seventy  tons  burthen  and 
measured  fifty  feet  on  the  keel,  with  seventeen  feet 
beam,  and  had  hold  enough  to  carry  thirty-five  lasts 
of  fish.  These  vessels,  according  to  the  contemporary 
record,  had  cabins,  "cooks'  roomes,"  and  other  "roomes." 
The  cost  of  building  such  a  buss  as  this,  together  with 
the  "  ruther "  (rudder),  the  ironwork,  the  bolts,  the 
"  chane-bolts  "  for  the  rigging,  the  "  shroud-chaines," 
"nailes,"  &c.,  as  well  as  her  cock-boat  and  "oares," 
amounted  to  the  sum  of  £260  as  a  maximum.  Her 
mainsail  and  bonnet,  which  was  laced  along  the  foot 


THE   FORE  AND-AFT   RIG  163 

after  the  manner  of  some  of  the  Nortli  Sea  fishermen 
and  the  Norfolk  wherries  to-day,  measured  eleven  yards 
deep  and  was  "sixteen  cloaths"  broad,  the  material 
being  known  as  "Ipswich  Poledauis."  Over  this  main- 
sail she  also  set  a  topsail.  Her  foresail  was  likewise  a 
square-sail,  and  with  its  two  bonnets  measured  ten 
yards  deep  and  twelve  cloths  broad.  Also  she  had  a 
"  mizen  or  backsaile,"  which  was  four  cloths  broad  and 
five  yards  deep.  In  addition  the  buss  was  furnished 
with  all  the  necessary  articles  for  sailing  and  fishing, 
boatswain's  stores,  and  nets  and  barrels,  kc.  She  was 
also  to  have  "  two  flagges  or  fannes  [whence  the  word 
"  vanes  "]  to  obserue  the  winde  by,"  and  these  "  fannes  " 
were  also  to  be  mounted  on  their  "  staues  "  or  staves. 
The  total  estimated  cost  of  a  new  buss,  together  with 
her  new  nets,  her  gear,  the  first  year's  charges  for  salt, 
casks,  as  well  as  victuals  and  wages  for  the  crew, 
amounted  to  £934  5s.  8d. 

But,  having  seen  something  of  the  character  of  the 
English  busses  and  the  manner  in  which  they  were 
destined  to  affect  the  later  development  of  the  fishing 
craft  of  our  coasts,  until  to-day  they  are  at  their  very 
best  in  the  Scotch  and  Cornish  luggers,  we  may  now 
turn  from  this  species  to  consider  the  further  evolution 
of  the  sloop  and  cutter  rig.  The  influence  of  Holland 
was  to  be  exercised  in  respect  of  the  yacht,  the  Revenue- 
cutter,  the  sailing-barge,  the  trader,  the  packet-boat, 
and  the  fisherman  as  well.  The  period  which  we  have 
in  view  for  the  present  is  the  eighteenth  century  and 
the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth. 

Let  us  commence  by  showing  that  the  English  naval 
architecture  was  content  for  many  a  year  to  follow 
along  the  lines  which  Holland  had  laid  down.  It  was 
a  dull  age  this  eighteenth  century,  as  barren  in  art  as  it 
was  in  architecture.  Depressing  and  uninventive,  with- 
out sparkle  of  originality,  it  needed  the  great  national 
revival  during  the  middle  of  its  epoch  to  stir  men's 
minds   to   enthusiasm,    and    to  bring  about   all  those 


164       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

beneficial  changes  which  we  in  this  country  have  been 
enjoying  for  so  many  years  past.  The  marvellous 
awakening  of  industrial  development,  of  improved 
methods  of  transport,  the  discovery  of  the  latent 
powers  of  steam  which  was  to  lead  to  the  invention 
of  the  locomotive  and  the  steamship,  and  so  to  re- 
volutionise the  world  by  hurrying  forward  civilisation 
and  development — all  this  did  not  come  till  late  in  the 
day,  and  after  a  period  of  mere  copying  had  been 
followed.  And  when  the  time  for  the  new  order  of 
things  did  arrive  it  was  to  change  altogether  the 
character  and  appearance  of  the  sailing  fore-and-after : 
it  was  to  transform  a  more  or  less  barrel-shaped  object 
into  a  delicately  fashioned  wedge  that  would  cleave  and 
leave  the  water  as  undisturbed  as  possible.  Instead  of 
driving  a  hull  through  the  water  by  the  mere  force  of 
the  wind  pressing  on  to  unduly  bellying  canvas,  the 
fore-and-after  was  to  slip  through  the  water  with  the 
minimum  of  effort.  The  resistance  was  to  be  diminished 
as  much  as  practicable,  the  sails  were  not  to  be  wind- 
bags but  more  like  flexible  boards.  The  ship  herself 
was  not  to  seek  battle  with  every  single  wave,  but,  so 
to  speak,  coax  her  own  way  through  the  water  with 
the  least  fuss. 

But  before  we  arrive  at  the  time  when  this  was 
brought  about,  we  have  first  to  see  what  conditions 
had  to  be  contended  with.  First  of  all,  consider  the 
actual  rig  of  such  a  Dutch  craft  as  the  "  hoeker."  In 
the  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  35),  which  has  been 
taken  from  Chapman's  Architectui^a  Navulis  Merca- 
to7'ia,  published  in  1768,  or  less  than  a  century  after  the 
death  of  Charles  II.,  we  have  the  hoeker  in  her  most 
refined  aspect,  for  this  is  a  hoeker-yacht.  She  is  to 
all  intents  and  purposes  a  development  of  the  galleot, 
and,  as  she  now  appears,  is  virtually  a  ketch.  In  her 
original  form,  the  hoeker,  "  houcre,"  or  "  hoek-boot," 
was  square-rigged,  with  one  course  on  the  main  and 
another  on  the  mizzen.     Afterwards  there  was  added  a 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 


165 


bowsprit,  with  staysail  and  jib,  and  there  were  also 
given  to  lier  a  fore-and-aft  mizzen  and  a  fore-and-aft 
mainsail.  The  lower  course,  the  square-topsail,  and 
topgallant  were  retained,  nevertlieless,  on  the  main- 
mast, and  thus  there  was  an   admixture  of  both  the 


^35i:3fe>^ 


Fig.  35. — Eighteenth  Century  Dutch  Hoeker-Yacht. 

Taken  from  Chapman's  Architectura  Navalis.  This  shows  the  later  development 
of  the  old  galleot.  It  will  be  noticed  that  she  carries  three  square-sails  on 
her  mainmast. 


original  square-sail  and  the  more   recent  fore-and-aft 
rig. 

It  will  be  observed  from  the  accompanying  diagram 
that  there  are  braces  to  the  lower  and  topsail  yards, 
and  that  in  order  to  make  the  sail  set  better  when  on 
a  wind  the  old  idea  of  a  bowline  was  still  employed. 
This  will  be  seen  with  its  three-part  spreader  attached 


166       INFLUENCE    OF   HOLLAND   ON 

to  the  leach  of  the  topsail,  and  the  line  leads  away  down 
to  the  bowsprit.  The  high-steeved  bowsprit  is  seen 
still  to  be  retained.  The  mainsail  has  both  gaff  and 
boom.  It  has  one  row  of  reef-points  near  the  foot, 
whilst  the  upper  half  of  the  sail  can  be  brailed  in.  The 
boom  has  its  mainsheet,  and  there  is  a  vang  with  its 
purchase  shown.  The  mizzen  is  also  a  gafFsail.  The 
brailing  arrangement  is  not  here  used,  and  by  this  date 
it  will  be  seen  that  the  topping-lift  is  in  vogue. 

From  this  diagram  let  us  turn  to  the  etching  of 
E.  W.  Cooke  (Fig.  36),  which  shows  some  Dutch  craft 
turning  to  windward.  We  miss  here  the  colour  which 
this  marine  artist  put  into  his  paintings,  but  the  picture 
is  none  the  less  lacking  in  life,  and  few  artists  of  his 
time  had  such  a  sympathetic  interest  in  the  shipping  of 
his  day  nor  understood  so  well  how  to  depict  what  he 
saw.  If  any  British  artist  ever  understood  Dutch  craft 
it  was  Cooke.  He  was  of  Dutch  descent,  and  he  visited 
Holland  as  many  as  fifteen  times.  He  was  constantly 
producing  paintings  of  these  bluff-bowed  Dutchmen, 
and  he  has  shown  us,  for  future  and  present  interest, 
that  which  Van  der  Velde  bequeathed  to  us  from  his 
day.  Cooke's  life  was  covered  by  the  dates  1811  and 
1880.  His  father  was  so  skilled  an  engraver  as  to  be 
chosen  to  reproduce  Turner's  seascapes,  and  the  son 
was  also  employed  for  a  time  on  such  work.  His 
output  was  enormous,  yet  it  is  rarely  that  he  disap- 
points us. 

This  illustration  before  us,  together  with  the  others 
of  Cooke,  belongs  to  the  year  1829,  but  during  the  time 
between  this  date  and  the  death  of  Charles  II.  there 
had  been  but  little  alteration  in  the  Dutch  galleots' 
hulls.  True,  there  is  far  more  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig 
than  of  the  square-sail  in  this  time,  but  in  the  ketch  or 
galleot  seen  in  the  foreground  of  the  picture  to  the  left 
we  have  many  an  item  to  remind  us  of  her  descent. 
The  lower  course,  which  is  set  on  the  mainmast,  may 
seem  of  unusual  shape,   but   it  is  quite   correct,  and 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  167 

exactly  as  the  Dutch  had  it  at  this  time.  Strictly- 
speaking,  it  is  not  a  square-sail  at  all,  for  the  head  is  of 
triangular  shape.  W'hy  was  this  ?  The  answer  is 
quite  simple.  I^ook  at  the  topsail.  That  has  to  be 
goared — that  is  to  say,  its  foot  has  to  be  hollowed  out 
— so  as  to  clear  the  forestay.  But  in  cutting  the  top- 
sail of  this  shape  a  great  deal  of  sail-area  is  wasted.  It 
is  to  make  up  for  this  deficiency,  therefore,  that  the 
lower  course  comes  up  in  a  triangular  form. 

And  now  compare  this  Dutch  craft  with  that  Eng- 
lish one  in  Fig.  32,  which  is  also  from  Cooke.  Here 
we  have  a  craft  which  is  well  known  to  all  who  are 
familiar  with  the  coasters  along  the  east  of  England. 
Cooke  has  happily  made  his  sketch  at  low-water,  so 
that  we  can  see  the  under-body  of  this  ship.  It  is  true 
that  she  is  cutter-rigged  in  this  instance,  but  they  are 
more  usually  ketch -rigged.  If  j^ou  compare  them  hull 
for  hull  you  will  find  that  Holland  is  far  more  manifest 
in  the  billy-boy  than  England.  Like  the  Dutchman 
she  still  carries  leeboards  ;  the  mast  is  still  stepped  in  a 
tabernacle  for  convenience  in  lowering;  and  though 
the  square-topsail  is  retained  in  the  sketch  before  us,  it 
has  to-day  gone,  but  the  modern  billy-boy  still  retains 
the  lower  course  for  use  when  running  before  the  wind. 
Big-bellied,  rounded  as  to  her  stern,  the  billy-boy  of 
yesterday  and  to-day  announces  to  any  one  who  has  eyes 
that  she  possessed  Dutch  parents. 

But  it  was  not  merely  the  trading-coaster,  but  prac- 
tically every  other  kind  of  fore-and-after  belonging  to  the 
eighteenth  and  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  centuries 
that  was  destined  to  be  moulded  by  the  Dutch  custom. 
The  yacht,  the  Revenue-cutter,  the  pilot-boat,  the 
fishing-smack,  the  herring  and  mackerel  boats,  the 
barge — these  were  all  to  show  their  submission  to  the 
country  which  had  taught  the  world  the  value  of  the 
fore-and-aft  rig.  If  we  examine  the  work  of  such 
marine  painters  as  existed  during  the  eighteenth  and 
early  nineteenth  centuries  we  may  not  always  find  a 


168       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

high  level  of  art,  but  we  scarcely  ever  come  away  dis- 
appointed in  respect  of  nautical  information.  This  is 
not  the  place  to  give  a  complete  catalogue  of  such  sea- 
painters,  but  it  is  possible  from  the  works  of  such  men 
as  Brooking  (1723-1759),  Bonington  (1801-1828), 
Serres  (1759-1825),  Monamy  (1670-1749),  Clarkson 
Stanfield  (1793-1867),  Constable  (1776-1837),  E.  W. 
Cooke  (1811-1880),  Turner  (1775-1851),  and  others,  to 
gain  an  accurate  idea  as  to  the  kind  of  vessels  the  fore- 
and-afters  of  the  time  had  become. 

Among  the  accumulation  of  inartistic  trifles  which 
are  stored  up  in  Kensington  Palace  are  a  number  of 
badly  painted  sea-pieces.  But  we  can  look  over  these 
defects  and  feel  quite  thankful  that  these  paintings 
have  been  preserved,  for  they  illustrate  just  what  we 
should  wish  to  know.  The  collection  is  so  accessible 
to  many  people  that  we  do  not  feel  called  upon  to 
examine  each  picture  in  detail.  Omitting  from  our 
purview  those  which  are  battle-pieces  and  strictly 
concerned  with  the  Royal  Navy  we  see  that  late  on 
into  the  eighteenth  century  the  first  Mary  type 
appeared  to  be  the  standard  for  the  yachts  of  this 
country.  After  that,  whilst  preserving  those  high- 
steeved  bowsprits  and  the  general  bagginess  as  to  the 
sails,  there  is  added  a  boom  to  the  gaff- mainsail,  the 
sail  being  loose-footed. 

The  great  loftiness  of  the  stern  also  begins  to 
disappear,  until  by  the  end  of  the  century  there  is 
many  a  pleasure-yacht  with  her  poop  no  higher  than 
her  bows.  There  is  an  effort  being  made  to  get  away 
from  the  transom  stern  and  to  approximate  to  the 
counter  stern  that  was  to  follow.  Those  who  are 
familiar  with  the  sterns  of  many  of  the  Sussex  beach 
craft  such  as  are  seen  at  Brighton  and  Hastings,  will 
find  a  great  similarity  between  these  existing  sterns 
and  those  which  obtained  at  the  end  of  the  eighteenth 
century.  The  evolution  of  the  counter  has  been  just 
this :     The    transom    stern   was    taken  from  the  con- 


O   rt 


.  <A  M 


bo 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  169 

temporary  Dutch  warships.  Then  the  poop-deck  was, 
later  on,  made  to  project  well  over  the  stern.  The 
stern-post  was  now  at  practically  right  angles  with  the 
keel.  But  the  transition  thence  was  only  a  slight  one, 
for  the  stern-post  was  given  a  much  greater  rake,  the 
after-end  of  the  ship  was  made  to  project  further 
astern,  the  transom  vanished,  and  thus  there  came 
about  the  modern  counter. 

But  in  the  late  eighteenth -century  craft  of  which 
we  are  speaking  there  was  a  stout  rail  which  ran  round 
the  stern,  as  if  the  loss  of  the  high  poop  were  really 
felt  and  some  protection  were  needed.  The  modern 
life-lines  which  run  round  many  of  our  yachts  are  but 
the  survival  of  these  strong  rails.  There  were  sloops, 
cutters,  yawls,  and  luggers  afloat  and  dodging  about 
the  water  with  lords  and  ladies  to  witness  a  naval 
review.  The  bluff  bows,  the  beamy  proportions,  the 
timber  colour  for  painting  the  hulls — these  traditions 
of  the  Dutch  were  still  held  on  to  rigidly.  The  sails 
are  usually  white,  but  occasionally  one  comes  across 
a  pleasure  craft  with  canvas  striped  like  a  window 
blind,  yet  this  is  exceptional.  But  before  we  pass  on 
to  deal  more  minutely  with  the  eighteenth-century 
fore -and -afters,  let  us  give  some  idea  of  the  appearance 
of  a  Dutch  yacht  belonging  to  this  epoch. 

Such  a  yacht  has,  according  to  an  old  Dutch 
volume  printed  in  Amsterdam,  no  sprit  but  a  gaff- 
mainsail,  and  the  latter  is  brailed  to  the  mast.  There 
is  a  tackle  to  the  tack  of  this  sail,  and  there  are  four 
vangs  to  the  peak.  There  is  also  a  yard  for  the 
square-sail.  The  Dutch  love  of  bunting  is  seen  at  the 
masthead,  the  peak,  and  the  ensign-staff;  and  no 
doubt  there  would  be  another  flag  of  some  sort  at  the 
end  of  the  bowsprit.  The  foretopmast-stay  is  not  at 
the  end  of  the  bowsprit,  but  at  a  point  between  the 
stempost  and  the  beakhead.  No  jib  is  shown,  though 
it  was  in  all  probability  set. 

The    lion    and    figurehead    and    the   beak   are   of 


170       INFLUENCE   OF    HOLLAND   ON 

course  copied  from  the  contemporary  full-rigged  ships. 
There  are  two  backstays  on  either  side,  and  there  is 
a  big  chimney  shown  forward  of  the  mast  coming  up 
from  the  "  cooke-roome."  There  is  also  a  curious 
additional  backstay  which  appears  to  lead  from  the 
throat  to  the  end  of  the  poop-deck.  One  would  have 
thought  that  it  would  have  chafed  the  sail  a  good  deal, 
although  it  must  certainly  have  given  an  additional 
support  to  the  mast.  Those  sausage-shaped  wooden 
fend-ofFs  which  we  noted  on  another  Dutch  vessel  are 
in  the  case  of  this  print  here  seen  again.  They  are 
placed  as  well  at  the  bows  as  at  the  stern.  She  has 
leeboards,  a  couple  of  guns  are  seen  projecting  from 
rounded  ports  on  either  side,  and  she  has  the  con- 
spicuous stern  lantern  at  the  extremity  of  the  poop- 
deck. 

We  mentioned  in  the  previous  chapter  that  by  the 
year  1720,  at  any  rate,  there  were  sufficient  yachts  in 
the  south  of  Ireland  to  form  the  first  of  our  yacht 
clubs.  Now  here  again  the  Dutch  influence  continued 
down  to  the  minutest  details.  Laying  aside,  for  the 
moment,  any  question  of  rig,  the  Cork  yachtsmen 
adopted  the  very  ideals  of  those  Amsterdam  yachts- 
men whom  we  considered  in  another  chapter,  not 
racing  but  engaging  in  sham  fights  and  naval  man- 
oeuvres under  the  command  of  an  admiral.  Now  the 
Cork  club  busied  themselves  in  just  the  same  manner. 
AVe  must  remember  that  this  was  a  time  when  naval 
affairs  were  wonderfully  prominent.  It  was  not  so 
long  since  the  Anglo-Dutch  wars  had  at  last  come  to 
an  end,  and  now  from  the  year  1689  till  the  battle  of 
Trafalgar,  with  but  slight  intermissions,  there  were 
the  wearisome  wars  with  France.  Additional  to  this 
there  was  ever  a  good  deal  of  smuggling  going  on 
and  the  corresponding  activity  of  the  Government 
craft  to  catch  the  delinquents.  If,  then,  we  bear 
these  facts  in  mind,  it  comes  quite  natural  to  find  the 
first  yacht  club  in  the  second  decade  of  the  eighteenth 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  171 

century  based  on  semi-naval  principles,  although  it 
must  be  understood  that  the  precedent  was  Dutch 
and  not  English.  The  Netherlands  had  been  such  an 
ensample  of  everything  that  was  correct  in  nautical 
matters  that  those  Irish  gentlemen  doubtless  thought 
that  they  were  following  the  best  ideals  when  they 
drew  up  the  sailing  instructions  for  tlieir  fleet  of 
pleasure  vessels. 

As  to  its  constitution,  this  club  had  its  admiral,  its 
chaplain,  and  officers,  and  to-day  every  yacht  and 
sailing  club,  with  its  commodore,  vice-commodore, 
its  rear-commodore,  known  as  the  club's  officers,  is 
unconsciously  following  the  example  of  the  Dutch 
yachtsmen  in  the  seventeenth  century  by  adopting  a 
kind  of  naval  atmosphere  and  appellation  in  its  organi- 
sation. In  his  interesting  article  in  the  second  of  the 
"  Badminton "  yachting  volumes,  Mr.  R.  T.  Pritchett 
quotes  from  a  book  published  in  the  year  1748, 
wherein  it  is  stated  that  these  Cork  yachts  "  for 
painting  and  guilding  exceed  the  King's  yacht  at 
Greenwich  and  Deptford."  Mr.  Pritchett  also  gives 
the  rules  and  sailing  regulations  w^hich  were  in  vogue 
among  these  Cork  enthusiasts,  and  may  be  summarised 
as  follows :  The  yachts  did  not  get  under  w^ay  until 
the  admiral  signalled  to  this  effect  by  firing  a  gun  and 
throwing  out  his  flag  signals  as  in  the  Royal  Navy. 
It  was  the  admiral  who  led  the  van,  who  received  the 
honours  of  the  flag,  and,  with  his  vessel  as  leader,  the 
rest  of  the  craft  fell  into  their  proper  stations  and 
"keep  their  line  in  the  same  manner  as  the  King's 
ships."  With  colours  flying,  drums  beating,  trumpets 
sounding,  and  guns  bellowing  forth,  the  occasional 
cruises  of  the  Cork  Water  Club  were  indeed  impres- 
sive ceremonies.  Following  the  contemporary  prac- 
tice in  the  service,  there  was  a  good  deal  of  gun- 
powder wasted  during  these  cruises.  Sometimes  the 
admiral  would  give  the  fleet  a  chance  of  playing  at 
Revenue-cutters,    sometimes   he   would   also   give  his 


172       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

fleet  the  signal  to  chase  an  imaginary  foe ;  in  which 
case  "  he  will  hoist  Dutch  colours  under  his  flag  and 
fire  a  gun  from  each  quarter."  Under  Rule  IX.,  if 
any  of  the  fleet  had  not  guns  to  salute  the  admiral 
they  were  to  give  three  cheers,  which  are  to  be 
returned  by  the  admiral,  and  one  cheer  is  to  be 
returned  by  the  captain  so  saluting. 

The  sailing  orders,  after  the  manner  of  the  Dutch 
yachtsmen,  included  the  instructions  for  rendezvous, 
for  getting  under  way,  for  communicating  with  the 
fleet,  for  coming  to  an  anchor,  for  chasing,  and  so  on. 
This  club  flourished  until  the  year  1765,  after  which 
there  seems  occasionally  to  have  been  a  dearth  of 
enthusiasm,  although  it  was  eventually  revived,  and 
now  exists  as  stated.  We  have  already  drawn  atten- 
tion to  the  marine  paintings  of  Peter  Monamy,  some 
of  which  are  to  be  found  in  Kensington  Palace  and 
the  Dulwich  Gallery.  But  there  are  still  preserved  in 
the  Royal  Cork  Yacht  Club  other  paintings  by  this 
artist,  which  show  the  Cork  yachts  of  about  1720  to 
1750  under  way.  They  are  seen  to  be  rigged  with 
mainsail,  staysail,  and  jib.  They  set  no  topsails, 
because  the  throat  of  the  mainsail  is  exceptionally 
high,  and  is  hoisted  nearly  to  the  truck.  The  staysail 
is  also  very  big,  and  the  jib  like^vise.  The  bowsprit  as 
usual  is  steeved  at  a  considerable  angle.  The  mast  has 
its  shrouds  and  lee-runners,  and  at  the  end  of  the  bow- 
sprit there  is  the  customary  Union  Jack.  It  is  possible 
and  even  probable  that  some  of  these  yachts  set  a  water- 
sail  below  the  bowsprit.  But  the  sails  are  very  baggy, 
and  possessed  nothing  like  the  efficiency  which  our 
modern  cut  affords.  Each  yacht  flies  a  large  ensign 
at  his  stern,  but  the  admiral  flies  a  large  Union  Jack 
at  his  masthead,  charged  with  a  gold  harp  and  crown 
on  a  green  field  in  the  centre  of  the  flag.  Other 
yachts,  instead  of  this  distinction,  fly  streamers  or  pen- 
nants from  the  masthead.  The  hulls  are  of  the  Dutch- 
like, bluff-bowed  type  of  which  we  have  already  spoken. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  173 

and  the  sheer  of  the  hulls  rises  up  from  the  bows 
towards  the  stern,  but  the  poops  have  been  very  con- 
siderably lowered  by  this  time.  The  spritsail  is  used 
no  longer  in  these  vessels,  but  a  gaff  and  boom. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  thought  that  yachting  on 
the  Thames  was  dead.  Certainly  it  suffered  a  relapse, 
but  at  any  rate  by  the  year  1749  there  were  many 
small  sailing  pleasure  craft  on  the  London  river.  The 
sport  of  sailing  m.atches  was  now  becoming  commoner, 
and  in  the  year  mentioned  a  dozen  of  these  craft 
started  from  Greenwich  to  race  to  the  Nore  and  back 
for  a  silver  cup  presented  by  Prince  George.  In  the 
year  1775  there  was  held  at  Battersea  a  regatta  for 
sailing  craft,  and  a  sailing  match  for  pleasure  craft  of 
a  size  from  two  to  five  tons  was  held  from  AVest- 
minster  to  Putney  Bridge.  It  was  thus  that  the 
famous  Cumberland  fleet  came  that  year  into  being, 
whence  there  was  eventually  to  evolve  the  present 
Royal  Thames  Yacht  Club.  The  yacht  which  in  the 
following  year  won  the  cup  was  named  the  Kings 
Fisher.  She  was  a  clinker-built  craft,  as  was  the 
fashion  in  those  days,  and  had  a  straight  stem  and  a 
long  straight  keel.  The  lofty  poop  of  other  days  was 
absolutely  gone,  and  only  the  very  slightest  resem- 
blance to  the  Dutch  craft  was  preserved  by  a  stern 
that  was  raised  just  a  little.  But  ample  beam  and  a 
flat  body  were  still  ideals  which  remained  rooted  in 
the  minds  of  the  designers.  Those  were  the  days,  of 
course,  when  yacht  races  were  started  not  by  a  flying 
start  and  an  imaginary  line  as  to-day :  the  vessels  rode 
to  their  anchors  with  sails  furled,  and  had  to  break  out 
their  hook,  hoist  their  canvas,  and  hurry  off  as  best 
they  might.  And  the  semi-naval  ceremony  was  still 
adhered  to  even  now.  For  the  use  of  the  Commodore 
of  the  famous  Cumberland  fleet  a  special  code  of  signals 
was  printed,  so  that  he  might  manoeuvre  his  fleet  as  if 
commanding  men-of-war.  Indeed  there  were  times  when 
yachts  were  actually  chased  into  port  by  privateers. 


^ 


174       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

In  July  of  1793,  for  example,  a  yacht  that  was  cruising 
round  the  Isle  of  AVight  was  captured  by  the  Dagomar, 
a  P>ench  privateer.  It  is  not  known  what  became  of 
the  yacht,  but  the  yachtsmen  were  taken  into  Dunkirk, 
stripped  of  everything  valuable,  and  then  released. 

By  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  great 
national  revival  and  the  universal  awakening  of  England 
had  reached  the  industry  of  yacht  building.  As  we 
know  from  contemporary  prints  and  from  the  con- 
temporary works  on  naval  architecture,  there  began 
to  be  introduced  a  greater  originality  with  better 
designs,  giving  the  yacht  an  increase  of  speed.  The 
illustration,  which  includes  more  than  one  of  the 
prevailing  types,  as  well  as  the  Atalanta,  a  famous 
craft  in  her  day  (Fig.  37),  will  afford  a  better  idea  of 
the  yachts  at  the  commencement  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  But  in  the  year  1796  there  was  launched  at 
Rotherhithe  a  celebrated  yacht  of  the  name  Ann  Sai'ah. 
It  is  said  that  she  "  was  formed  pretty  much  after  the 
old  school,  and  is  certainly  a  very  clever  thing.  All 
floor  from  end  to  end,  shallow  body,  deep  keel,  very 
full  bow,  straight  sheer,  a  pretty  airy  stern.  Her 
extreme  breadth  is  before  the  mast."  The  "  straight 
sheer  "  was  certainly  representative  of  the  effort  to  get 
away  from  the  old  Dutch  model,  but  the  retention  of 
the  "full  bow"  showed  how  difficult  it  was  to  break 
away  from  the  conservatism  of  many  years'  standing. 
But  it  was  not  till  the  years  following  1851,  when  the 
famous  America  came  as  such  a  surprise,  that  the  final 
cleavage  between  the  old  and  the  new  ideas  as  to  the 
lines  of  the  ideal  craft  was  to  come  about.  Of  this 
we  shall  speak  in  due  place. 

JVIany  of  even  the  smallest  sailing  craft  on  the 
Thames  at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
still  retained  the  spritsail  of  the  Dutchman,  the  mast 
being  placed  very  far  forward,  the  sail  being  brailed  for 
stowing  as  usual.  The  staysail  formed  not  a  large 
triangle,  and  most  frequently  there  was  no  bowsprit. 


Fig--  37- 


ElGHTKKXTH    CKXTUKV    CkaFI 


This  contemporary  print  aflTords  an  idea  of  the  lines  of  yachts,  fishing  boats,  sailing 
boats  and  other  craft  belonging  to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century.  Especially  to  be 
noticed  is  the  famous  "  Atalanta." 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  175 

If  the  reader  will  examine  the  accompanying  repro- 
duction (Fig.  38)  of  one  of  Cooke's  etchings  he  will 
find  much  to  interest  him,  and  will  be  enabled  to  get  a 
good  idea  of  some  of  the  early  nineteenth-century  small 
fry.  In  the  background  are  some  of  the  Billingsgate 
oyster  boats,  which  are  cutter-rigged  with  gaff,  boom, 
staysail,  bowsprit,  and  jib.  The  mainsail  is  loose- 
footed,  and  it  will  be  noticed  that  the  topping-lift 
is  not  single,  but  it  works  through  a  block  not  merely 
at  the  masthead,  but  at  the  end  of  the  boom,  and  then 
returns  to  the  mast  again.  If  one  remembers  the 
uninventive  period  wherein  this  type  of  vessel  was 
evolved,  one  can  readily  understand  that  the  designers 
and  shipbuilders  had  remained  content  to  accept  the 
Dutch  influence  without  much  argument.  We  have 
only  to  look  at  this  next  Cooke  etching  (Fig.  39), 
showing  a  Dutch  "  schuyt "  in  Blackwall  Reach,  to  see 
that  the  Dutch  model  has  only  been  adapted  just  as 
much  as  was  necessary  for  local  purposes. 

But  to  come  back  to  the  Billingsgate  picture,  it  is 
important  to  notice  two  other  characteristic  types  of 
craft  which  at  one  time  were  features  of  the  Thames 
estuary,  but  now  are  among  the  obsoletes.  These  are 
the  Peter-boat  and  the  hatch-boat  respectively.  The 
former  will  be  seen  on  the  extreme  left  and  the  latter 
on  the  extreme  right  of  this  illustration.  Sometimes 
both  Peter- boats  and  hatch-boats  used  to  race  on  the 
Thames  in  the  early  'twenties,  and  they  were  then  rigged 
as  cutters.  But  the  Peter-boat  is  indebted  to  Holland 
only  for  her  rig.  Her  double-ended,  canoe-shaped  hull 
dates  back  to  the  times  when  the  Viking-form  was 
the  recognised  hull  for  England,  and  a  beautiful  legend 
connects  her  name  with  the  consecration  of  St.  Peter's, 
Westminster,  which  was  to  be  replaced  later  by  the 
Westminster  Abbey.  And  it  was  almost  under  the 
shadow  of  this  abbey,  just  above  the  Houses  of  Parlia- 
ment, that  one  might  see  such  craft  some  time  since. 

According  to  old  prints  these  craft  were  decked  in 


176       INFLUENCE    OF   HOLLAND   ON 

at  the  bows  and  the  stern  much  like  a  Hfeboat,  except 
that  the  decks  were  flat  and  not  convex.  They  were 
essentially  fishing  craft,  and  the  old  illustrations  show 
them  with  a  well  for  their  fish  running  athwart  the 
craft  amidships.  Strongly  built,  with  plenty  of  free- 
board, they  were  able  to  encounter  the  hollow  seas 
which  get  up  in  the  Thames  estuary  when  wind  is 
against  tide.  If  there  are  a  few  semi-decayed  hulls 
of  these  craft  still  to  be  seen  anywhere  on  the  Thames, 
they  are  really  worthy  of  being  taken  ashore  and  pre- 
served in  one  of  our  museums,  for  they  are  the  only 
English  craft  which  can  trace,  in  a  direct  line,  an  an- 
cestry that  reaches  right  back  to  those  times  when  the 
Vikings  overran  our  land,  but  left  to  us  a  knowledge  of 
shipbuilding  that  formed  the  basis  on  which  the  Tudors 
were  to  build  their  men-of-war.  Excepting  the  Nor- 
wegian, the  Baltic,  and  the  Dutch  craft  of  to-day,  there 
are  no  craft  in  northern  Europe  that  have  had  such 
a  career  with  such  few  modifications  from  the  original 
design. 

But  the  hatch-boat,  as  seen  in  this  picture  and, 
better  still,  in  the  Gravesend  picture,  represents  an 
attempt  to  get  away  from  the  Dutch  influence.  In 
a  certain  degree  it  is  an  improved  and  larger  Peter- 
boat,  and  in  the  early  part  of  last  century  was  the 
typical  Thames  estuary  fisherman's  craft.  In  the  Bil- 
lingsgate picture  one  of  the  smaller  type  is  shown, 
but  in  the  spirited  illustration  seen  in  Fig.  40,  depict- 
ing Gravesend  Reach,  a  bigger  species  of  this  craft  is 
seen.  In  the  present  instance  the  hatch-boat  is  double- 
reefed.  Although  not  discernible,  such  a  craft  set  a 
bowsprit ;  and  in  this  case  it  will  be  seen  that  a  gafF- 
mainsail  has  been  adopted  in  lieu  of  the  spritsail. 
The  rudder  is  worked  by  a  yoke — lifeboat  fashion — 
and  the  mainsheet  worked  on  a  horse.  The  retention 
of  a  couple  of  vangs,  and  the  lacing  to  keep  the  sail 
to  the  mast,  instead  of  using  hoops,  are  survivals  of  the 
Dutch  influence. 


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THE    FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  177 

It  was  in  these  later  developed  types  of  the  hatch- 
boat  that  the  topmast  was  added  as  seen.  The  boom 
was  not  employed — at  least  I  have  never  seen  any 
representation  of  that — but  the  mizzen  still  kept  its 
sprit.  To-day,  as  we  shall  see  later  on,  the  Rawley 
has  kept  some  of  the  essential  features  of  this  main- 
sail, although  with  the  addition  of  the  brailing-lines. 
It  was  because  the  Thames  watermen  required  some- 
thing a  little  larger  and  capable  of  having  the  shelter 
which  a  small  cabin  afforded  that  the  hatch-boat 
attained  such  popularity.  The  topmast,  as  shown,  was 
rather  in  tlie  nature  of  an  addition  to  the  original  rig 
of  this  boat.  The  connection  of  Billingsgate  with  the 
different  types  of  vessels  it  has  witnessed  throughout 
the  centuries  would  make  an  interesting  essay,  and 
those  oyster  craft  that  we  have  just  examined  had 
their  counterpart  in  the  early  seventeenth  century. 
Even  Manwayring,  who  lived  in  Elizabeth's  reign, 
speaks  of  the  ketch  as  "  a  small  boate  such  as  uses 
to  come  to  Belingsgate  with  mackrell,  oisters,  &;c." 
To-day,  if  the  steam  fish-carrier  may  seem  to  have 
taken  away  some  of  the  former  romance  from  this 
quayside,  at  any  rate  the  historic  custom  of  the 
Dutch  eel-carrying  schuyts  is  still  kept  up,  as  any  one 
who  has  ever  looked  over  the  side  of  London  Bridge 
is  aware. 

The  pleasure  craft  and  the  fishing  vessels,  the 
smuggler  and  the  King's  Revenue  vessels  have  re- 
acted on  each  other  in  regard  to  development  to  an 
extraordinary  degree.  Sometimes  it  has  been  the 
one  which  has  led,  sometimes  the  other,  according 
to  whether  the  yacht,  the  smuggler,  the  Revenue 
craft,  or  the  fisherman  has  at  a  particular  period 
been  the  most  developed. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  it  used 
to  happen  that,  when  there  were  not  enough  suitable 
craft  to  be  obtained,  the  yachtsman  purchased  some 
vessel  that  had  earned  both  fame  and  notoriety  in  the 

31 


178       INFLUENCE    OF   HOLLAND   ON 

smuggling  industry  :  fame  for  her  speed  in  getting  away 
from  the  King's  cutters,  notoriety  for  her  nefarious 
occupation.  So  also  there  have  been  times  when  the 
fisherman  has  at  last  grown  discontented,  in  spite  of 
himself,  with  the  bluff,  old  lines,  the  old-fashioned  gear, 
the  badly  cut  sails,  and  been  willing  to  learn  from  the 
more  scientific  appliances  on  board  the  yacht.  The 
hulls,  for  instance,  the  sails  and  other  details  of  the 
Poole  fishing- cutters  to-day  are  far  more  akin  to  yachts 
than  to  the  vessels  which  one  might  associate  with  the 
work  of  fishing.  So  also  in  the  olden  days,  a  cutter 
might  be  built  for  the  purpose  of  preventing  contraband 
traffic  and  end  her  days  a  yacht.  And  there  are  plenty 
of  so-called  yachts  to-day  which  were  designed,  built 
for,  and  for  years  employed  in  fishing  or  pilot  work. 
Some  of  the  novelties  which  have  long  since  found  their 
way  into  yachts,  which  were  despised  and  ridiculed  at 
one  time  by  the  old  fishermen  who  "  didn't  hold"  with 
such  ideas  (as,  for  instance,  improved  methods  of  reefing), 
have  been  accepted  by  the  old  school,  and  would  not 
be  given  up  without  regret.  And  so  in  the  most  natural 
manner  the  different  types  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  have 
acted  and  reacted  the  one  on  the  other  for  the  mutual 
improvement  of  the  rig  as  a  whole. 

If  we  except  the  fleet  of  quite  pleasure  craft  which 
were  accustomed  to  sail,  and  sometimes  race,  between 
Blackfriars  Bridge  and  Putney,  it  may  be  asserted  that 
whatever  yachting  was  indulged  in  about  this  time 
belonged  to  the  wealthy  alone.  Those  noblemen,  for 
instance,  who  had  their  places  along,  or  not  far  from,  the 
coast,  found  their  yachts  highly  useful  for  crossing  to  the 
Continent,  and  more  convenient  than  the  packet-boat. 
The  Duke  of  Richmond,  for  instance,  is  reported  to 
have  had  a  large  yacht  launched  at  Itchen  on  May  17, 
1783,  and  on  July  5  to  have  "  set  sail  in  his  new  yacht 
for  France  "  accompanied  by  members  of  his  ftimily. 
And  it  was  rather  as  a  means  of  transport  that  down 
to  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  these  big 


Fig-  39- 


Dutch  Schuyt 


Afier  the  engraving  Ijy  K.  W.  Cooke.     'J'he  influence  of  the  DiUch  hull  and  rig  over  English  craft 
persisted  in  a  most  marked  manner  till  nearly  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


Fig.  40. 


H.\TCH-BOAT    IN    GRAVESEND    RE.\CH 


This  is  after  the  engraving  by  E.  W.  Cooke.     In  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth  century  this 
was  the  typical  craft  of  the  Thames  Estuary  fishermen. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  179 

yachts  were  employed,  instead  of  being  either  racing 
or  pleasure  craft.  It  is  also  on  record  that  a  new  yacht 
belonging  to  I^ord  Ferrers,  in  turning  to  windward  from 
the  Downs  to  Blackwall,  beat  everything  else.  That 
was  in  1773,  but  the  same  year  she  was  in  turn  beaten 
by  two  "  shallops  "  in  a  race  from  Dover  to  the  French 
coast  and  back. 

^Ve  may  now  pass  on  to  examine  more  closely  the 
character  of  the  cutters  and  sloops  that  were  prevalent 
at  this  time  ;  and  first,  with  regard  to  that  exceedingly 
interesting  creature  the  Revenue  cruiser.  As  her  mis- 
sion in  life  was  to  get  along  with  the  utmost  despatch 
so  as  to  overtake  the  wily  smuggler,  it  was  of  prime 
importance  that  she  should  be  given  the  fastest  hull 
that  the  contemporary  designer  could  give  her,  together 
with  an  exceptionally  large  sail-area.  First  of  all,  then, 
consider  the  noble  peaceful  English  cutter  as  she  was 
at  the  time  of  about  1810  to  1830.  Every  one  is  familiar 
with  Turner's  celebrated  picture  in  the  National  Gallery 
entitled  "  Calais  Pier,"  which  shows  the  English  packet 
coming  into  the  harbour  and  a  French  fisherman  clear- 
ing out.  It  is  blowing  a  strong  breeze  from  the  west- 
ward, with  the  nasty  sea  which  is  familiar  to  those 
who  have  sailed  along  this  coast,  where  a  smart  wind 
against  tide  makes  a  sea  sufficiently  unpleasant  for 
moderate-sized  sailing  craft.  The  war  with  France  had 
prevented  Englishmen  for  many  years  from  travelling 
abroad,  but  in  the  year  1802  Turner  took  advantage  of 
the  Peace  of  Amiens  and  crossed  to  France.  It  was 
while  entering  Calais  harbour  that  he  had  at  hand  a 
subject  for  his  picture  that  was  to  be  exhibited  at  the 
next  year's  Academy,  and  was  entitled  as  mentioned. 
The  English  packet  and  the  French  fisherman  are  a 
study  in  contrasts,  and  the  picture  shows  that  in  this 
year  1802  the  former  had  begun  to  be  less  beamy,  more 
distinctive,  more  original,  while  the  French  vessel  was 
yet  as  tubby  and  big-bellied  as  the  old-fashioned  Dutch 
craft ;    in  short,  the  English   craft  is  a  long  way  the 


180       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

superior.  For,  ever  since  about  the  middle  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  our  own  countrymen  had  begun 
to  improve  on  their  Dutch  inheritance,  and  in  no 
respect  more  than  in  the  development  of  the  cutter. 
It  is  to  the  English  that  this  development  was 
especially  due. 

In  a  French  nautical  work  published  in  Paris  in  the 
year  1783,  the  cutter  is  referred  to  as  a  craft  whose  con- 
struction comes  to  the  French  from  the  English.  After 
remarking  that  in  respect  of  its  rigging  and  its  sail-plan 
the  cutter  resembles  a  sloop  or  "  bateau  d'Amerique," 
except  that  the  cutter  usually  has  her  mast  inclined 
more  aft  and  has  also  a  longer  mast  and  greater  sail- 
area,  this  authority  goes  on  to  say  that  the  cutter  also 
sets  a  kind  of  bonnet  which  is  bent  to  the  foot  of  the 
mainsail,  and  adds  that  the  cutter  differs  from  the  sloop 
in  that  she  has  little  freeboard,  but  that  she  draws  more 
water  so  as  to  carry  sail  the  better. 

"  The  cutters,"  continues  this  explanation,  "  have 
many  uses,  especially  being  employed  by  the  smugglers 
of  the  English  Channel,  for  the  reason  that  these  craft 
being  very  fine  sailers,  and  being  able  to  carry  a  good 
deal  of  sail,  they  can  easily  escape  from  the  guardships. 
The  English  Government  for  the  same  reason  maintain 
a  good  many  of  these  craft  so  as  to  stop  these  smug- 
glers ;  they  are  manned  by  a  crew  of  thirty,  and  carry 
from  six  to  eight  cannon  as  well  as  some  swivel-guns. 
Recently  some  have  been  constructed  for  the  Depart- 
ment of  Brest." 

Thus  we  see  that  it  was  England  that  originated  this 
special  type  of  vessel.  Falconer  in  his  authoritative 
dictionary  defines  the  cutter  as  "  a  small  vessel  com- 
monly navigated  in  the  Channel  of  England,  furnished 
with  one  mast  and  a  straight-running  bowsprit  that  can  be 
run  in  on  the  deck  occasionally  ;  except  which,  and  the 
largeness  of  the  sails,  they  are  rigged  much  like  sloops. 
Many  of  these  vessels  are  used  on  an  illicit  trade,  and 
others  employed  by  the  Government  to  seize  them,  the 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  181 

latter  of  which  are  either  under  the  direction  of  the 
Admiralty  or  Custom-house." 

In  the  illustration  (Fig.  41)  will  be  seen  a  sketch  of 
a  Revenue-cutter  belonging  to  about  1810  to  1880. 
This  is  from  a  model  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum. 
She  carries  twelve  guns — six  a  side  plus  two  swivel-guns 
— viz.  two  at  the  bow  and  two  at  the  stern.  Her  ton- 
nage would  work  at  about  130,  her  length  85  ft.,  beam 
24  ft.,  depth  13*3  ft.,  and  draught  11  ft.  As  to 
her  rigging,  notice  that  the  square-sail  yard  has  been 
lowered  nearly  to  the  deck.  Her  bowsprit,  as  was  then 
the  fashion,  is  very  long,  and  she  has  five  good  shrouds 
a  side,  with  rope-ladders  for  going  aloft  to  set  the 
square-sail.  Above  the  lower  course  she  would  set  a 
much-goared  topsail,  and  a  square  topsail  over  that. 
The  square  ports  are  taken  from  the  fashion  in  the 
contemporary  "  wooden  walls."  The  mast  and  gaff 
are  very  long,  and  the  topmast  seems  excessive ;  but 
these  vessels  were  made  to  carry  sail  and  to  be  hard 
driven.  Notice  also  that  the  yard  is  guyed  forward 
to  the  end  of  the  bowsprit.  The  topping-lift  was 
double  in  the  manner  we  explained  a  few  paragraphs 
back.  The  hull  was  varnished  timber-colour,  with  a 
black  rubbing-strake  running  around.  As  to  whether 
the  Revenue- cutter  broke  the  rule  existing  among 
ships  by  having  her  topmast  abaft  instead  of  forward 
of  the  mast  is  a  point  of  dispute.  In  this  model  the 
topmast  is  shown  forward,  but  Leslie,  in  his  Old  Sea 
Wings,  states  definitely  that  it  was  stepped  abaft. 

Now,  the  Revenue-cutter,  the  English  packets,  and 
the  despatch-boats  of  Nelson's  time  were  very  similar 
to  this  model  in  general  respects.  They  were  clinker- 
built  up  to  the  deck,  and  their  stern  projected  aft  for  a 
little  way  in  the  nature  of  a  platform,  as  will  be  seen, 
and  thus  was  the  forerunner,  as  we  explained  above, 
of  the  modern  counter  stern.  There  were  catheads 
on  either  bow,  and  the  ship  rode  to  hempen  cables. 
The  lines  are  certainly  most  pleasing.     The  bow  was 


Fig.  41.— English  Revenue-Cutter. 

From  a  model  in  the  South  Kensington  Museum.  Her  tonnage  was  130,  and  she 
belongs  to  the  period  of  about  1810-1830.  She  was  employed  against 
smugglers  and  was  a  very  fine  sailer,  being  manned  by  a  crew  of  thirty. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  183 

a  great  improvement  on  the  old  bluff  Dutch  design, 
and  the  stern  is  very  fine.  It  is  especially  noticeable 
that  aft  is  the  greatest  draught  of  water,  and  Leslie 
points  out  that  this  has  always  been  retained  as  a 
feature  in  our  English  cutters. 

From  this  let  us  turn  to  look  at  another  equally 
interesting  model  (Fig.  42)  which  was  sketched  in  the 
Rijks  Museum,  Amsterdam.  This  shows  a  Dutch 
Revenue-cutter — oorlogskotter  is  the  Dutch  word — 
De  Vlieg  ("  The  Fly  "),  on  account,  no  doubt,  of  her 
great  speed.  Here,  in  the  matter  of  influence,  is 
England  returning  thanks  to  Holland ;  for,  as  may 
immediately  be  seen,  the  Dutch  have  copied  the 
English  craft  in  almost  every  possible  respect.  There 
is  the  very  closest  similarity  in  respect  of  hulls,  though 
this  Dutchman  carries  eight  guns  a  side,  and  the 
sockets  in  the  stern  are  there  all  ready  for  the  swivel- 
guns  to  be  placed.  The  lines  are  so  nearly  identical 
with  the  English  cutter  that  we  need  not  discuss 
them  further. 

But  the  sail-plan  is  deserving  of  every  consideration. 
Notice  the  bowlines  on  both  topsail  and  topgallant  which 
lead  forward  to  the  end  of  the  bowsprit  ;  also  the 
Dutch  way  in  which  the  head  of  the  jib  ends  in  a 
tiny  yard.  The  lower  course  is  shaped  in  the  curious 
manner  that  we  have  already  demonstrated,  and  its 
yard  is  of  course  necessarily  short.  Above  this  she 
sets  a  much-goared  topsail,  which  is  thus  made  to  clear 
the  forestay  and  both  jib  and  fore  halyards,  and  above 
the  topsail  she  carries  also  a  topgallant.  But  as  if  this 
canvas  were  not  enough,  she  carries  stunsails,  the  lower 
booms  being  run  out  along  the  lower  yard,  while,  above, 
quite  short  yards  and  blocks  suffice.  In  addition  even 
to  these  the  mainsail  also  sets  a  ring-tail  abaft  the 
leach  of  the  mainsail.  Of  course  the  square-sails,  the 
stunsails,  and  the  ring-tail  were  all  copied  from  the 
prevailing  full-rigged  ships.  But  with  all  this  cloud 
of  canvas  and  a  smart  breeze,  the  smuggler  must  have 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  185 

been  a  mighty  smart  craft  to  be  able  to  elude  this 
Government  cruiser.  As  she  came  foaming  along, 
with  all  this  immense  sail-area  aloft,  she  would  have 
presented  a  magnificent  sight  for  any  one  possessed  of 
imagination  and  emotion.  Her  lines  are  such  that  she 
would  undoubtedly  be  ftist ;  her  rigging  and  runners 
and  backstays  are  all  very  strong,  and  of  necessity  so. 
Skilfully  handled,  with  a  sufficient  and  ample  crew, 
the  Fly  under  way  must  have  shown  herself  capable 
of  doing  some  wonderful  passages  and  chases.  She 
has  set  canvas  in  almost  every  inch  of  space,  and 
additional  to  what  is  here  seen  there  would  be  a  jib 
topsail  as  well.  Below  the  small  yard  to  which  the 
lower  course  is  bent  there  is  another  yard.  This  was 
known  on  full-rigged  ships  as  the  barren-yard,  and  was 
used  on  the  cutters  for  the  purpose  of  sheeting  down 
the  topsail,  and  in  the  present  instance  for  running  out 
the  stunsail  booms.  The  two  davits  at  the  stern  are 
copied  from  the  Scandinavian  custom,  and  are  used 
for  carrying  the  ship's  boat.  On  a  later  page  we  shall 
deal  with  the  famous  Captain  Schank's  invention  of  the 
sliding  keel,  but  here,  in  passing,  we  may  add  that 
this  invention  was  tried  on  a  Revenue-cutter  named 
the  T?ial. 

We  have  already  referred  to  Chapman's  well-known 
work  on  naval  architecture,  which,  together  with  Stalk- 
artt's  Naval  Architectiire,  formed  two  of  the  greatest 
authorities  on  the  subject  of  the  eighteenth  century. 
Marmaduke  Stalkartt  published  his  book  in  London  in 
1781.  It  was  a  time  when,  thanks  now  not  to  the 
Dutch  but  the  scientific  French,  naval  design  and 
construction  were  being  raised  to  a  higher  position 
than  had  ever  obtained  before.  England  had  good 
reason  to  watch  this  improvement  with  great  interest. 
The  war-cloud  hung  so  heavily  and  so  threateningly 
that  she  had  need  to  keep  her  saihng  warships  up  to 
the  highest  standard,  and  so  all  the  learned  theories 
and  investigations  of  the  French  on  such  subjects  as 


186       INFLUENCE    OF    HOLLAND    ON 

resistance  of  vessels  passing  through  the  water,  and  so 
on,  were  examined  with  great  care  by  our  countrymen, 
and,  where  they  seemed  feasible,  embodied  in  English 
designs.  The  books  printed  in  England  about  this 
time  on  naval  architecture  are  full  of  theories  and 
experimental  ideas,  which,  however,  we  need  not  stop 
to  look  into.  But  the  nett  result  was  that,  while  in 
very  many  cases,  especially  among  the  obstinate  and 
old-fashioned,  the  cutters  and  sloops  still  remained 
more  like  barrels  than  scientifically  designed  ships,  yet, 
as  evidenced  in  the  Revenue-cutters  and  the  best 
yachts,  no  less  than  in  the  smugglers,  there  had  set  in 
since  the  mid-eighteenth  century  a  decided  improve- 
ment both  in  design  and  build,  though  it  was  not  till 
the  middle  of  the  nineteenth  century  that  the  fore- 
and-after  really  began  to  make  rapid  headway  towards 
the  attainment  of  the  ideal  design. 

Two  designs  have  been  here  reproduced  from 
Stalkartt,  as  illustrating  the  highest  point  reached  in 
the  year  1781  by  our  designers  of  this  type  of  vessel. 
The  first  (Fig.  43)  shows  the  lines  of  a  cutter,  whose 
length,  measured  from  the  foreside  of  the  stem  at 
the  upper  edge  of  the  wales  to  the  afterpart  of  the 
sternpost  at  the  upper  edge  of  the  rabbet  of  the  keel, 
was  60  ft.  Her  breadth  was  25  ft.  4  in.,  the 
length  of  keel  (for  tonnage  measurement)  being  44  ft. 
9f  in.  Her  burthen  worked  out  at  152|f  tons. 
With  the  addition  of  these  plans  to  the  two  models 
of  the  Revenue-cutters  previously  alluded  to,  it  is 
possible  to  acquire  a  good  working  idea  as  to  the 
degree  of  advancement  in  the  cutter  at  the  end  of 
the  eighteenth  and  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth 
centuries. 

The  second  illustration  (Fig.  44)  from  Stalkartt 
shows  a  design  for  a  yacht,  and  she  is  only  slightly 
smaller.  The  length  from  the  foreside  of  the  stem  to 
the  afterpart  of  the  sternpost  at  the  height  of  the  wing 
transom  measures    75  ft.   5   in.      The  length    of    the 


Fig-  43- 


Lines  of  a  Cutter  of  the  Year  1781 


This  shows  the  design  by  Stalkartt,  the  famous  eighteenth-century  naval  architect, 
for  a  cutter    of  about  152  tons. 


Fig-  44- 


Design  for  a  Yacht 


1'.  ISO 


This  also  is  by  Stalkartt,  the  tonnage  being  about  141.     Notice  the  influence  of  the 
contemporary  full-rigged  ship  on  ihe  bow  and  stern. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  187 

keel  for  tonnage  measurement  is  59  ft.  4j  in. 
Her  extreme  breadth  is  21  ft.  2  in.,  and  the 
moulded  breadth  20  ft.  10  in.  Her  burthen 
worked  out  at  141  ;^|^  tons.  Stalkartt  describes  her  as 
having  been  "  designed  to  be  an  expeditious  sailer, 
without  any  other  stowage  than  is  actually  necessary 
for  accommodation ;  but  which  is  to  be,  at  the  same 
time,  what  is  termed  a  stiff  sea  boat,  able  to  carry 
sail  sufficient  to  speed  her  to  some  place  of  safety, 
and  to  keep  her  off  from  a  lee-shore.  These  qualities 
in  a  yacht  when  happily  united  render  her  a  most 
useful  as  well  as  agreeable  appendage  to  the  more 
noble  structures  of  naval  architecture."  In  short, 
what  he  aimed  at  was.  in  the  words  which  have 
been  recently  employed  to  describe  the  modern 
racing  cruiser,  "  habitability  with  speed."  To-day 
there  is  a  complete  separation  between  yacht  and 
ship  designing,  for  the  obvious  reason  that  the  two 
types  are  entirely  different  and  need  special  methods. 
Nevertheless  the  yacht  is  neither  despised  nor  un- 
worthy. It  is  therefore  amusing  to  note  the  disposi- 
tion of  the  eighteenth  century  towards  these  craft 
as  evidenced  by  Stalkartt  as  being  "  a  most  useful 
as  well  as  agreeable  appendage  to  the  more  noble 
structures,"  &c.  It  was  analogous  to  the  pomposity 
of  a  period  when  might  was  right  and  the  mightiest 
was  the  best  in  matters  not  necessarily  connected  with 
sport  or  naval  architecture. 

We  gave  Falconer's  definition  just  now  of  a  cutter. 
Let  us  now  add  that  he  speaks  of  the  sloop  as  "  a 
small  vessel  furnished  with  one  mast,  the  mainsail 
of  which  is  attached  to  a  gaff  above,  to  the  mast  on 
its  foremost  edge,  and  to  a  boom  below,  by  which 
it  is  occasionally  shifted  to  either  quarter.  It  differs 
from  a  cutter  by  having  a  fixed  steering  [sic]  bowsprit 
and  a  jib-stay,  nor  are  the  sails  generally  so  large  in 
proportion  to  the  size  of  the  vessel."  The  word 
"  steering  "  is  doubtless  a  misprint  for  "  steeving,"  for 


188       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

in  the  sloops  of  this  period  it  is  characteristic  that 
the  bowsprit  was  steeved  at  a  great  angle,  something 
after  the  manner  of  the  early  Dutch  yachts,  which, 
in  turn,  had  copied  the  fashion  from  the  older  full- 
rigged  ships. 

Moore,  in  his  Midshipman  s  or  JBritish  Marinei-'s 
Vocabulary,  written  in  the  year  1801,  speaks  of 
Falconer's  31arine  Dictionai^y  as  the  only  book  that 
has  hitherto  appeared  in  the  English  language  as  a 
guide  to  seamen  on  which  any  dependence  can  be 
placed.  Moore,  who  professes  that  he  has  consulted 
the  best  French  marine  authors  of  the  time,  defines 
the  cutter  briefly  as  "  a  vessel  furnished  with  one  mast 
and  a  straight  running  bowsprit,  or  which  can  be  run 
in  on  the  deck  occasionally ;  except  which,  and  the 
largeness  of  the  sails,  they  are  rigged  much  like 
sloops."  The  sloop  he  defines  in  almost  identically 
the  same  language  as  Falconer,  except  that  he  uses 
the  word  "  steeving ''  instead  of  the  misprinted  "  steer- 
ing "  in  connection  with  the  bowsprit.  The  sloops  of 
war,  which  formed  units  in  the  Royal  Navy  of  this 
time,  were  sometimes  rigged  as  cutters,  sometimes  as 
schooners,  and  occasionally  even  as  ships  and  brigs. 
They  carried  from  10  to  18  guns,  and  were  commanded 
"by  officers  in  a  middle  rank,  between  a  lieutenant  and 
a  post-captain,  and  stiled  masters  and  commanders." 
In  the  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  45)  has  been 
reproduced  a  model  of  a  schooner-rigged  sloop. 

Moore,  in  his  work  from  which  we  have  quoted, 
does  not  so  much  as  mention  the  word  yacht,  and 
this,  taken  in  conjunction  with  Stalkartt's  attitude, 
well  illustrates  the  insignificant  place  which  the  yacht 
occupied  at  that  time  in  the  mind  of  the  seaman ; 
for  it  existed  in  such  few  numbers  that  it  was  not 
worth  reckoning.  P'alconer,  the  first  edition  of  whose 
work  was  published  in  1770,  certainly  does  allude  to 
this  type  of  craft,  but  his  definition  of  her  "  as  a 
vessel  of  State,  usually  employed  to  convey  princes, 


THE    FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  189 

ambassadors,  or  other  great  personages  from  one 
kingdom  to  another "  shows  that  this  speeies  of  craft 
must  at  that  time  have  necessarily  been  few  in  number. 

In  one  of  the  later  editions  of  this  work  we  are  able 
to  gain  an  accurate  idea  as  to  what  sort  of  a  vessel  the 
yacht  of  about  1815  w^as.  AVe  find  that  she  was  rigged 
with  a  jib,  staysail,  mainsail,  and  square  topsail  set  on 
a  yard,  but  with  a  barren-yard  below.  The  hull  is  in 
many  w^ays  influenced  by  the  frigate  or  corvette  type 
of  warship  then  in  service.  It  had  both  figurehead 
and  beak,  whilst  the  raised  poop  shows  how  closely 
connected  w^as  this  vessel  with  the  galleons  of  Tudor 
times.  Along  the  hull  w^as  a  line  of  port-holes,  con- 
sisting of  as  many  as  six  each  side.  The  bowsprit 
was  as  long  as  the  boom,  and  below  the  former  she 
set  a  square  water-sail.  At  the  end  of  the  bowsprit 
she  flew  the  Union  Jack,  as  was  then  the  custom. 
The  influence  of  the  old  bomb-ketch  is  exceedingly 
marked  in  the  hull  of  this  yacht,  but  it  belongs 
rather  to  the  royal  type  of  yacht  in  use  during  the 
eighteenth  century  than  to  the  improved  private  yachts 
seen  on  the  south  coast  in  the  second  decade  of  the 
nineteenth. 

The  Dutch  sloepe,  then,  had  as  descendants  firstly 
the  British  cutters  and  sloops.  Then,  owing  to  the 
success  which  the  cutter  had  found  in  England,  France 
copied  this  type,  and  Holland  too.  At  the  same  time, 
in  America,  the  sloop  had  also  begun  to  thrive,  and  also 
owing  to  Holland.  For  we  are  aware  that  the  Dutch 
in  the  seventeenth  century  were  great  colonisers,  and 
that  the  men  who  had  been  bred  and  born  always  with 
some  waterway  in  their  close  vicinity  in  that  stretch  of 
land  between  the  North  Sea  and  the  Zuyder  Zee,  after 
having  made  their  new  home  in  America  and  called  it 
New  Netherlands,  would  most  naturally,  and  actually 
did,  take  to  the  water  as  ducks  which  have  been  trans- 
ported from  one  lagoon  to  another.  As  they  had  built 
and  sailed  sloops  all  their  lives  in  old  Holland,  so  they 


190       INFLUENCE    OF   HOLLAND   ON 

besfan  to  do  in  the  New  Netherlands,  and  thus  the 
Dutch  example  and  invention  in  the  matter  of  the 
fore-and-aft  rig  were  carried  not  merely  to  England, 
and  through  the  latter  to  France,  but  to  North  America 
as  well.  And  to  this  day  the  Americans  speak  of  the 
sloop  when  we  should  use  the  word  cutter. 

From  a  contemporary  drawing  in  the  British  Museum 
the  measurements  of  a  sloop  belonging  to  the  year  1796 
are  given  as :  length  on  keel,  33  ft.  4|^  in.  ;  extreme 
beam,  16  ft.  6  in.,  so  that  they  were  remarkably  beamy 
craft.  But  as  belonging  to  the  generic  rig  of  cutter 
there  were  also  other  small  craft  with  special  designations. 
The  hoy,  for  instance,  according  to  Moore,  was  a  small 
vessel  rigged  usually  as  a  sloop,  and  employed  in  carry- 
ing passengers  and  goods  from  one  place  to  another, 
particularly  on  the  sea-coast,  where  ordinary  lighters 
cannot  be  managed  with  safety  or  convenience.  The 
smack,  according  to  Falconer,  was  a  small  vessel 
commonly  rigged  as  a  cutter,  and  used  in  the  coasting 
or  fishing  trade,  or  as  a  tender  in  the  king's  service. 
That,  of  course,  refers  to  the  smacks  belonging  to  the 
late  eighteenth  and  the  early  part  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  But  the  original  type  of  Dutch  semaque  we 
have  dealt  with  in  a  previous  chapter. 

As  to  what  these  early  nineteenth -century  smacks 
were  like  we  may  see  from  the  accompanying  picture 
(Fig.  46),  which  shows  some  Scotch  smacks.  In  them  the 
old  Dutch  bluff  lines  have  been  retained,  and  the  bows 
in  particular  are  instantly  noticeable.  The  anchors  are 
of  course  smaller,  but  of  a  similar  pattern  to  those 
which  Nelson's  Victory  carried.  Even  the  yard  for  the 
square- sail  is  still  kept,  and  the  rope  ladders  for  climbing 
aloft.  The  Dutch-like  weather-vane  is  also  there. 
These  vessels  are  trading  smacks.  But  in  the  next 
illustration,  also  after  Cooke  (Fig.  47),  we  have  an 
excellent  presentation  of  the  sail-plan  of  a  fishing 
smack.  The  first  point  which  immediately  strikes  one 
is  the  amazingly  bad  cut  of  the  canvas.     It  is  to  our 


THE   FORE-AND-x\FT   RIG  191 

modern  eyes  slovenly  and  unnecessarily  baggy,  but  this 
was  the  custom  till  after  the  mid-nineteenth  century. 
The  length  of  the  boom  and  the  bowsprit  is  enormous, 
and  the  whole  effect  is  not  one  to  rouse  enthusiasm. 
The  topsail,  however,  bad  as  it  is,  must  interest  us  ;  for 
with  a  part  of  it  projecting  forward  of  the  mast  some- 
thing like  a  lugsail,  and  the  angle  wliich  the  head 
makes  with  tlie  topmast,  we  see  this  sail  in  its  state 
of  transition.  The  square  topsail  of  the  full-rigged 
ship  and  the  Revenue-cutter  is  vanishing,  but  not  yet 
has  come  that  perfect  shape  which  we  are  accustomed 
to  use  on  our  cutters  to-day.  The  only  instance  where 
nowadays  there  still  clings  tenaciously  a  resemblance  to 
the  transitional  topsail  is  in  the  case  of  the  Thames 
barge. 

Cooke,  of  course,  knew  his  business  far  too  well  to 
fall  into  any  inaccuracy  in  regard  to  a  vessel's  rig ;  but 
lest  the  reader  should  imagine  that  in  this  particular 
example  the  sails  seen  are  of  an  unusually  bad  cut  and 
have  not  been  sweated  up  to  their  full  hoist,  let  us  be 
allowed  to  refer  him  to  other  illustrations  of  about  this 
date  that  depict  this  kind  of  craft.  There  are  plenty 
of  instances  to  be  noticed  in  the  prints  and  paintings  of 
the  time.  It  was  just  as  bad  on  one  part  of  the  coast 
as  any  other,  and  I  have  examined  a  very  considerable 
number  of  contemporary  illustrations  of  the  subject. 

If  any  reader  should  happen  to  be  cruising  on  the 
south  coast  of  England  and  hnd  himself  in  the  vicinity 
of  Chichester  harbour  he  may  find  it  interesting  to  run 
up  to  Bosham,  in  whose  churchyard,  near  to  the  gate, 
he  will  find  on  a  tombstone  an  inscription  and  illustra- 
tion belonging  to  this  period  that  are  well  worth 
examining.  At  the  top  of  the  stone  is  carved, 
somewhat  crudely,  but  with  a  good  deal  of  truth,  a 
sloop  belonging  to  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century, 
or  almost  exactly  a  hundred  years  after  that  day  when  the 
first  yacht  Mary  came  over  from  Holland.  This  sloop 
has  jib  and  staysail  as  well  as  mainsail,  with  the  Jack 


192       INFLUENCE    OF   HOLLAND   ON 

flying  on  the  jack-staff  forward,  and  the  legend  reads 
thus : — 

"In  Memory  of 
Thomas,  son  of  Richard  and  Ann  Barrow, 

master  of  the  ship  Tzvo  Bi'others, 

who  by  the  breaking  of  the  horse  fell  into  the 

sea  and  was  drowned, 

October  the  13th,  1759,  aged  23  years." 

This  is  the  only  instance  I  know  of  which  shows  a 
fore-and-aft  sculpture  of  that  period.  The  "  breaking  of 
the  horse  "  has  nothing  to  do  with  a  refractory  steed, 
but,  as  the  quaint  illustration  depicts,  the  bobstay  has 
carried  away,  and  the  body  of  the  unfortunate  mariner 
is  seen  tumbling  headlong  into  the  water,  a  conventional 
shark  or  fish  eagerly  awaiting  him  at  the  stern.  In  the 
Elizabethan  times  the  word  "  hawse  "  signified  the  bows 
of  the  ship ;  hence  the  nautical  expression  "  athwart 
hawse."  But  two  hundred  years  later,  whilst  the  word 
hawse  was  retained  to  speak  of  the  ship's  cables,  yet 
"  horse "  signified  a  rope,  usually  that  which  reached 
from  the  middle  of  a  yard  to  both  its  extremities,  and 
depended  some  two  or  three  feet  from  that  yard  for  the 
sailors  to  tread,  while  aloft  setting  the  square-sail  on  a 
cutter.  But  it  was  also  employed  to  describe  a  thick 
rope  which  was  used  for  hoisting  a  yard  or  extending  a 
sail  thereon.  The  yard  of  the  square-sail,  for  example, 
was  attached  to  the  horse  by  means  of  a  traveller  which 
slid  up  and  down.  But  in  the  sculpture  alluded  to  it  is 
clear  that  the  use  of  the  word  was  also  applied  to  the 
bobstay,  which  is  seen  to  have  broken,  and  so  in  some 
way  caused  the  decease  of  the  young  master  of  the 
Two  Brothers. 

We  shall  see  presently  how  it  came  about  that  the 
yacht  was  to  influence  the  Government  vessel,  but 
before  so  doing  we  may  run  briefly  through  the  early 
period  of  the  nineteenth  century,  so  that  we  may  have 
clearly  in  our   mind   the   different   processes  through 


Fig.  46. 


Scotch  Trading  Smacks 


After  the  engraving  by  E.  W.  Cooke.     These  craft  show  how  persistentlj  the  old  Dutch 
bluff  lines  continued  into  the  nineteenth  century. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  193 

which  the  fore-and-aft  yacht  had  to  pass.  The  reader 
is  already  in  possession  of  a  good  many  facts,  and  has  in 
his  mind,  tlianks  to  the  illustrations  which  have  been 
put  before  him,  a  working  knowledge  of  many  of  the 
fore-and-afters  as  they  are  descended  from  the  time  of 
Charles  to  about  the  time  of  the  battle  of  Trafalgar.  In 
order  to  make  our  meaning  clear,  and  to  be  allowed  to 
fill  in  details  at  once,  it  has  been  necessary  to  digress 
more  than  once.  What  we  now  propose  to  do  is  not  so 
much  to  go  into  minute  details  of  rigging  and  sail,  which 
we  have  already  attempted,  as  to  give  cohesion  to  the 
progress  of  the  cutter  and  sloop,  and  to  carry  on  that 
evolution  from  the  days  of  ignorance  to  the  time  when 
experiment  and  knowledge  were  to  bring  about  a  com- 
plete revolution  in  the  design  and  equipment  of  the 
fore-and-after. 

In  order  to  effect  any  radical  series  of  improvements 
in  ships  it  is  essential  that  there  should  be  sufficient 
financial  encouragement.  The  shipbuilding  industry  is 
carried  along  on  business  lines,  and  must  pay  its  way. 
It  is  true  that  in  this  progressive  twentieth  century  big 
shipbuilding  firms  can  afford  to  employ  a  part  of  their 
staff  in  experimental  work,  and  to  sink  part  of  their 
capital  in  making  models  and  tanks  to  ascertain  certain 
laws  and  theories.  But  matters  were  not  so  prosperous 
at  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  The  long 
wars  had  been  a  serious  financial  loss  to  the  country, 
and  there  was  nothing  like  that  amount  of  wealth  and 
prosperity  in  our  land  which  were  to  follow  from  in- 
creased trade  caused  by  better  facilities  of  transportation, 
such  as  have  been  brought  about  by  the  steamship  and 
the  railway. 

Therefore,  the  men  whose  work  it  was  to  build 
ships  either  had  to  follow  the  acknowledged  types  which 
would  readily  be  purchased,  if  not  by  the  Government, 
at  any  rate  by  the  fishermen,  the  pilot,  or  the  smuggler. 
To  depart  largely  from  the  models  already  recognised 
was  a  risky  matter.     True,  the  encouragement  during 

N 


194       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

the  first  two  decades  of  the  nineteenth  century  given 
by  the  Government  to  build  the  fastest  seaworthy  craft 
to  deal  with  the  contraband  traffic  was  more  than 
helpful  to  the  shipbuilder ;  but  it  was  the  wealthy 
gentleman  of  leisure  who  could  affiard  to  spend  lavishly 
on  the  building  of  a  pleasure  craft  that  came  as  a  great 
incentive  force  to  the  shipman.  At  first  he  wanted  a 
craft  something  like  himself — stately,  dignified,  impres- 
sive. But  after  a  while,  when  racing  became  a  fashion, 
and  wagers  were  frequently  made,  and  handsome  cups 
and  prizes  offered,  his  yacht  was  to  be  something  better 
than  a  miniature  floating  palace. 

One  owner  this  summer  might  bring  out  a  yacht 
that  would  sweep  the  board,  and  continue  to  be  talked 
about  for  the  whole  of  the  winter.  The  following  year 
would  see  other  owners  in  the  field  with  something 
better — superior  lines,  increased  tonnage,  and  a  much 
larger  sail-area.  These  new  craft,  in  their  turn,  would 
wrest  the  laurels  from  the  yacht  of  last  year ;  and  so 
the  competition  went  on.  Now  all  this  was  very  good 
for  the  sport ;  for  the  development  of  the  cutter  and 
sloop  gave  the  highest  encouragement  to  the  builder, 
and  generally  helped  forward  the  right  kind  of 
enthusiasm.  The  yacht  was  to  become  something 
more  than  a  nonentity :  she  was  destined  actually  to 
influence  some  of  the  naval  craft. 

We  have  seen  that  from  its  earliest  days  yachting 
in  Holland  was  connected  with  the  navy  by  the  adop- 
tion of  naval  tactics,  sailing  instructions,  and  signals. 
We  have  seen  the  same  custom  continued  in  the  first 
yacht  club  in  Cork ;  and  we  have  remarked  that  even 
on  the  Thames  the  commodore  of  the  Cumberland 
fleet  commanded  his  ships  like  a  naval  commander-in- 
chief.  So  it  was  to  be  on  the  south  coast.  In  the  year 
1812  there  were  so  many  yachts  and  yachtsmen  that 
fifty  of  the  latter  determined  to  establish  at  Cowes  an 
institution  which  was  called  the  Yacht  Club.  Eight 
years  later  the  name  was  changed  to  the  Royal  Yacht 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  195 

Club.  There  was,  as  yet,  no  regular  regatta  held. 
That  was  to  come  several  years  later ;  but  these  com- 
fortable and  slow  craft  used  annually  to  give  a  wonder- 
fully impressive  demonstration  or  naval  review  after  the 
manner  of  the  Dutch  and  the  Irish.  Under  the  com- 
mand of  the  commodore  the  fleet  would  collect  and 
process  round  the  Brambles  buoys,  then  cruise  to  the 
westward,  down  the  Solent  as  far  as  Hurst  Castle,  and 
so  back  to  Cowes,  where  thousands  of  awed  spectators 
would  look  on  and  applaud  this  pompous  spectacle. 

The  yachts  had  to  keep  their  station  after  the  manner 
of  ships-of-the-line,  and,  like  the  other  associations, 
signalling  was  indulged  in.  During  the  year  1816  a  new 
code  of  signals  had  come  into  the  navy,  thanks  to  Sir 
Home  Popham,  and  it  was  that  new  code  which  this 
fleet  of  yachts  loved  to  practice.  Every  year,  then,  the 
great  event  off  Cowes  was  this  pageant  of  yachts  parad- 
ing after  the  naval  manner.  What  an  owner  wanted, 
then,  was  not  a  fast  ship,  but  one  that  would  look  im- 
posing as  she  took  her  place  in  that  annual  procession. 
And  if  we  are  to  judge  by  the  yachts  which  attended 
the  royal  naval  reviews,  as  depicted  in  contemporary 
paintings,  we  can  surmise  that  the  owners  got  what 
they  had  ordered  from  the  shipbuilders.  There  was,  in 
addition  to  this,  a  certain  amount  of  ocean  cruising  to 
be  done  northwards  to  Russia  and  the  Baltic,  or  south- 
wards to  the  JNIediterranean.  And  the  late  JMr.  Mon- 
tague Guest,  in  his  history  of  the  Royal  Yacht  Squadron, 
which  was  to  evolve  from  this  Royal  Yacht  Club,  related 
that  often  an  owner  would  take  his  yacht  down  to  Lisbon 
and  load  up  with  wine  to  replenish  his  English  cellars. 

But  after  a  while  it  began  to  be  realised  that  this 
water  pageant  was  but  a  limited  form  of  sport,  and 
racing  began.  So  the  element  of  speed  entered  into 
the  recreation,  and  the  "  impressive "  type  of  yachts 
became  obsolete,  and,  instead,  something  that  would 
hurry  through  the  water  was  wanted.  Where  could 
they  be  obtained?     Obviously  the  only  men  to  go  to 


196       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

were  those  who  had  been  accustomed  to  build  the  fast 
Revenue-cutters  and  smugghng  craft ;  or,  failing  these, 
some  lesser  men  who  had  made  successes  of  their  pilot 
and  fishing  craft.  It  happened  sometimes  that  smuggler 
craft  and  Revenue-cutters  were  being  built  simul- 
taneously in  the  same  yard,  side  by  side.  If  after 
launching  it  was  found  that  the  ship  which  had  been 
intended  for  the  contraband  industry  proved  herself  to 
be  the  faster,  then  the  Government  was  not  unwilling 
to  pay  a  handsome  premium  and  take  that  instead  of 
the  other  vessel. 

To  begin  with,  then,  the  yachtsman  who  wanted  a 
fast  craft  had  either  to  purchase  an  ex-smuggler  or 
Revenue  craft,  or  he  had  to  have  a  ship  built  on  those 
lines.  It  is  thus  that  in  some  of  the  racing  yachts  of 
the  early  'twenties  we  find  the  water-sail,  stunsails,  and 
ring-tails  carried  just  like  a  Revenue-cutter.  The  rating, 
such  as  it  was,  was  based  on  the  tonnage,  which  in 
turn  was  estimated  from  the  supposed  cargo  capacity 
that  the  yacht  possessed.  And  between  the  yacht,  the 
packet-boat,  the  Revenue-cutter,  and  the  pilot-boat 
there  was  little  externally  to  choose.  The  accompany- 
ing illustration  (Fig.  48),  which  belongs  to  the  year 
1823,  will  show  the  nature  of  these  craft.  It  is  entitled 
"  Pier  at  Little  Hampton,"  and  forms  one  of  the 
beautiful  pictures  engraved  by  William  Daniell  and 
collected  in  a  volume  entitled  A  Voyage  Round  Gi^eat 
JBritcmi.  These  vessels  were  extraordinarily  strong 
and  heavy.  Full  in  the  bows  they  fined  away  aft,  as 
we  saw  in  the  two  models  just  now.  But  gradually,  as  a 
result  of  the  competitive  sport  of  yachting,  it  began  to 
be  realised  that  there  was  no  point  in  making  these 
yachts  of  such  heavy  materials.  Their  timbers  and 
planking  could  be  made  lighter  without  unduly  sacri- 
ficing strength,  but  at  the  same  time  giving  a  welcome 
lightness  to  the  vessel.  They  were  therefore  improved 
in  this  direction. 

The  cutter  rig  was  retained  for  the  reason  that  it 


Fig-  47- 


p.  190 


Fishing  Smack: 


Of  the  early  nineteenth  century.     This  shows  how  bad  was  the  cut  ot  the  sails  in  those 
days,  which  are  in  nowise  here  exaggerated.     (After  the  engraving  by  E.  W.  Cooke.) 


Fig.  48. 


Cutter  Entering  Littlehampton  Harbour 


This  illustration,  which  is  after  William  Daniell  and  belongs  to  the  year  1823,  shows  the  strong, 
heavy,  full-bowed  type  of  cutter  of  that  time,  with  square  topsail  and  t'gallant. 


THE   P^ORE-AND-AFT   RIG  197 

was  the  handiest  for  man(X3uvring  in  confined  waters,  and 
especially  suitable  when  harbours  had  frequently  to  be 
entered.  Furthermore,  it  afforded  the  greatest  amount 
of  sail-area  with  the  minimum  amount  of  weiifht  in 
spars.  And  lastly,  as  every  one  knows,  the  cutter  will 
sail  at  least  one,  if  not  two  points  nearer  the  wind  than 
the  square-rigger.  A  typical  fast  yacht  of  about  the 
year  1815  was  cutter-rigged,  copper- fastened,  and  some- 
times copper-sheathed.  Having  a  burthen  of  60  or  70 
tons,  with  a  saloon  10^  ft.  by  15  ft.,  she  had  also  three 
smaller  bed-cabins  and  a  steward's  room,  as  well  as  fore- 
castle. She  was  ballasted  with  5  tons  of  lead  and  25  tons 
of  iron,  the  blocks  being  moulded  to  fit  the  hold. 

It  is  true  that  as  far  back  as  the  year  1780  there 
had  been  sailing  matches  off  Cowes,  but  these  were 
exceptional,  and  not  regular  annual  affairs  of  import- 
ance. Up  to  the  close  of  the  eighteenth  century  it  was 
rare  to  find  a  yacht  exceeding  35  tons  burthen,  but 
by  about  the  year  1826  some  of  the  Royal  Yacht  Club 
cutters,  thanks  to  the  new  influence  of  racing,  had 
reached  the  exceptional  size  of  180  tons.  For  a  "  single- 
sticker  "  this  is  simply  enormous,  and  it  is  not  surprising 
that  these  yachts  whenever  during  their  cruises  they 
came  across  any  of  the  king's  cutters  beat  the  latter 
easily.  Each  year  the  tendency  of  the  cutter  yacht  was 
to  get  longer  and  longer,  and  increased  tonnage  went 
on  till  it  reached  the  figure  mentioned.  One  of  the 
most  famous  cutters  of  the  big  class  was  the  Atalanta, 
belonging  to  about  the  year  1815,  but  she  was  not  by 
any  means  the  largest,  and  worked  out  at  116  tons. 
Owners  insisted  on  gigantic  sail-areas,  and  thus  larger 
hulls  had  to  be  built  to  meet  these  requirements.  As 
we  shall  see,  the  evolution  of  the  fore-and-aft  yacht  ever 
since  the  sport  was  founded  on  a  secure  basis  has  been 
regulated  and  modified  by  the  laws  laid  down  by  the 
yacht  clubs  and  racing  associations.  Even  as  far  back 
as  the  year  1826  this  force  had  begun  to  operate,  for  it 
was  enacted  that  the  use  of  extra  sails  was  forbidden. 


198       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

That  being  so,  there  was  nothing  for  it  but  to 
increase  the  size  of  the  ordinary  sails.  To  meet  this, 
not  merely  had  the  size  of  the  hulls  to  be  made  greater, 
but  very  drastic  means  had  to  be  effected  that  the 
vessels  should  be  able  to  sustain  such  a  spread  of  canvas. 
Additional  ballast  had  to  be  carried,  and  a  certain 
amount  of  heavy-weight  lifting  took  place  to  shift 
great  blocks  of  metal  to  the  windward  side  of  the 
vessel  on  each  tack.  This  was,  of  course,  a  false 
method  of  working  towards  the  attainment  of  the  ideal 
racer ;  but  it  was  in  these  days  legitimate,  and  so  for  a 
time  continued.  But  at  this  time  the  line  of  separation 
between  the  old  and  new  types  is  most  marked.  Thanks 
to  the  prevailing  rules  for  racing,  the  Revenue-cutter 
type  had  ceased  to  be  the  model  for  the  cutter  yacht. 
Something  finer  with  lighter  scantlings  was  required  as 
to  hull,  and  in  the  matter  of  the  rig  those  square  courses, 
square  topsails  and  topgallants,  stunsails  and  ring-tails, 
which  were  regarded  as  extra  or  fancy  sails,  were  scrapped 
and  omitted  from  future  designs. 

But  though  the  square-topsail  had  gone,  a  gaff- 
topsail  was  employed,  and  thus  there  was  laid  down  the 
general  lines  of  the  cutter  rig  for  futurity.  It  was  not 
altogether  fortunate  that  some  of  these  undoubtedly 
useful  square-sails  should  have  been  abolished.  For  the 
cruiser  in  certain  winds  they  are  most  useful,  and  so 
easily  handled  that  it  was  a  pity  to  do  away  with  them 
entirely.  But  for  years  the  new  convention  was  fol- 
lowed owing  to  the  element  of  racing  which  remained 
as  a  potent  influence,  and  it  is  only  comparatively 
recently  that  cruising  men  have  begun  to  bring  back 
the  square-sail  into  the  inventory  which  should  be 
found  on  a  yacht  intended  not  exclusively  nor  especially 
for  winning  cups. 

Even  in  the  'twenties,  after  the  wars  had  ceased, 
and  it  was  safe  to  cruise  up  and  down  Channel,  some 
of  the  big  cutters  still  went  about  with  a  few  four  and 
six-pounders  on  their  decks,  and  even  with  a  complete 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  199 

armoury  below  consisting  of  rifles,  pistols,  and  cutlasses. 
But  this  was  not  so  much  from  the  necessity  of  having 
arms  on  board  as  resulting  from  that  semi-naval  tradi- 
tion which  still  clung  to  the  yacht.  Besides  the  cutters, 
both  large  and  small,  there  were  a  number  of  yawls, 
and,  from  about  the  year  1820,  the  schooner  began  to 
increase  in  popularity,  but  she  was  usually  a  topsail 
schooner,  and  just  prior  to  her  time  the  brig,  with 
guns  and  discipline  resembling  that  of  the  Royal  Navy, 
was  popular  among  wealthy  owners.  There  were  also, 
thanks  to  the  influence  which  certain  fast  smuggler- 
craft  had  exercised  on  naval  architecture,  a  certain 
number  of  luggers  used  as  yachts,  as  well  as  yawls ; 
but  for  the  reasons  already  given  the  cutter  remained 
the  most  popular.  Long  before  ever  Cowes  was  a 
great  yachting  resort,  that  town  had  become  con- 
nected with  the  fore-and-after  by  its  build  of  Revenue- 
cutters  ;  but  after  the  design  and  rig  of  the  yacht  began 
to  improve,  the  old-fashioned  clinker-build  was  super- 
seded, and  yachts  were  made  carvel-built  instead. 

It  was  because  the  smugglers  were  so  frequently 
able  to  get  away  from  the  Government  craft,  and 
because  the  big  yachts  were  able  to  show  the  king's 
cutters  a  clean  pair  of  heels,  that  at  last  an  outcry  was 
made,  and  the  Government  was  urged  to  bring  about 
an  improvement.  They  were  to  sink  their  pride  and 
be  content  to  learn  from  the  amateur  pleasure  yachts 
which  had  shown  themselves  to  possess  qualities  that 
the  king's  ships  did  not.  It  was  apparent  to  every  one 
that  the  cutter  yachts  had  far  outstripped  the  naval 
architecture  which  the  Government  had  favoured,  and 
the  amateur  had,  by  his  sporting  enthusiasm  and  his 
purse,  encouraged  the  science  and  art  of  cutter-building 
to  an  extent  which  previously  had  not  been  attained. 

Thus  it  came  about,  then,  that  the  Government 
took  the  matter  up,  set  its  experts  to  work,  and  even 
arranged  a  match  between  a  cutter  yacht  and  a  king's 
cutter.     The  result  was  so  much  in  favour  of  the  yacht 


200       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

that  the  matter  was  settled  beyond  all  possibility  of 
dispute.  There  was  not  room  for  any  opinion  on  a 
matter  which  was  as  clear  as  could  be.  And  thus  at 
length  not  only  did  it  come  about  that  some  of  the 
new  Revenue-cutters  were  built  on  the  lines  of  the 
fast  yachts,  but  in  some  occasions  were  even  built  on 
the  same  stocks  where  the  yachts  had  been  laid  down. 
The  smaller  type  of  sailing-ships  had  developed  to  such 
an  extent  that  it  had  become  a  special  branch  of  ship- 
building, requiring  a  particular  knowledge  which  the 
maker  of  ships-of-the-line,  frigates,  and  corvettes  did 
not  necessarily  possess.  Even  the  two  last-mentioned 
types  were  dominated  by  their  structural  strength  in 
spite  of  their  superiority  of  speed  as  compared  with  the 
battleship.  But  in  the  case  of  the  cutter  finer  work, 
more  scientific,  and  of  a  different  nature  was  required. 

To  an  experience  gained  originally  by  the  building 
of  the  older  types  of  fore-and-afters,  and  improved 
subsequently  by  the  demands  of  racing,  there  had  been 
applied  mathematical  science,  and  all  the  laws  which 
had  been  discovered  by  French  and  other  naval  archi- 
tects. For  about  the  close  of  the  great  Anglo-French 
wars  the  Gallic  ability  in  naval  design  and  construction 
was  pre-eminent.  Had  the  human  element  always  been 
of  a  similar  excellence,  perhaps  the  Napoleonic  wars 
might  have  ended  differently.  But  at  any  rate  England 
was  now  beginning  to  wake  up,  and  to  learn  from  the 
French  as  in  previous  times  she  had  learned  from  the 
Dutch. 

We  alluded  just  now  to  the  increasing  popularity 
of  the  schooner  in  the  early  'twenties  in  this  country. 
For  bigger  vessels  anxious  to  retain  the  fore-and-aft 
rig,  this  type  had  much  to  commend  it.  But  as  to  its 
evolution  it  is  interesting  to  note  that  here  again  can 
the  Dutch  origin  be  traced.  The  reader  will  recollect 
two  sketches  which  we  considered  in  an  earlier  chapter, 
to  which  we  called  special  attention  owing  to  the 
peculiarity   of  their   rig.      One   of  these   was  from   a 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  201 

painting  by  Willaerts,  and  now  hangs  in  the  Dor- 
drecht JNIuseum ;  the  other  was  by  an  artist  of  the 
Dutch  school,  and  hangs  in  the  Boijnians'  Museum, 
Rotterdam.  V'irtually  these  two  craft  were  a  kind  of 
schooner,  but  without  either  jib  or  staysail.  Their 
Dutch  designation  was,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  there 
was  no  staysail,  that  of  sloepe.  These  paintings,  it 
will  be  recollected,  belonged  respectively  to  the  years 
1629  and  1642. 

Some  of  these  so-called  sloepes  were  about  24  ft. 
long  in  the  mainmast,  42  ft.  in  length  over  all,  with  a 
beam  of  9  ft.  Now  we  referred  some  pages  back  to 
the  colonisation  of  northern  America  by  the  Dutch, 
who  called  their  territory  the  New  Netherlands,  and 
that  which  is  now  known  as  New  York  was  called  by 
them  New  Amsterdam.  Along  that  Atlantic  shore, 
stretching  northwards  to  Gloucester  and  Boston,  are 
to  be  seen  to  this  day  perhaps  the  very  finest  class 
of  schooners  in  existence,  or  ever  conceived  by  the 
mind  of  designer.  The  reason  is  to  be  found  in  the 
fact  that  the  Dutch  colonists  took  over  the  Atlantic 
not  merely  their  ideas  of  cutters  and  single-masted 
sloops,  but  also  the  other  notions  of  craft,  including 
this  kind  of  vessel  depicted  in  the  Boijmans'  Museum. 

It  was  in  1664  that,  during  the  Anglo-Dutch  War, 
the  British  seized  New  Netherlands,  but  that  did  not 
mean  that  the  whole  Dutch  colony  vanished,  nor  that 
the  Dutch-American  shipping  was  instantly  to  be  swept 
out  of  sight.  Undoubtedly  this  two-masted  sloepe  held 
on.  But  in  the  year  1713  there  came  a  change:  there 
was  seen  to  be  room  for  an  improvement,  for  it  was 
realised  that  this  "  two-sticker  "  could  be  made  a  better 
craft  by  adding  a  triangular  jib  as  in  the  single-masted 
sloops.  And  so  this  was  done.  The  foremast  was 
was  already  very  far  forward  in  the  eyes  of  the  ship, 
and  so  a  broeksprit,  or  bowsprit,  had  to  be  added  also 
on  which  to  set  the  jib,  and  so  with  this  the  schooner 
as  belonging  to  the  years  1800  to  1850  came  into  being. 


202        INFLUENCE    OF    HOLLAND    ON 

It  was  then  distinctly  a  Dutch-American  craft,  and  not 
British,  and  the  date  of  the  first  of  this  new  type  was, 
as  stated,  1713.  Captain  Clark  relates  that  as  she  was 
leaving  the  launching  ways  some  one  exclaimed,  "  See 
how  she  scoons,"  and  from  that  day  this  prototype  and 
her  descendants  have  been  called  schooners} 

The  place  where  this  vessel  originated  was  Glou- 
cester, and  this  early  reputation  for  the  two-masted 
fore-and-after  has  been  since  continuously  maintained 
by  that  port.  Two  separate  reasons  have  contributed 
to  the  development  of  the  Gloucester  schooner. 
Firstly,  there  was  a  demand  for  an  able  type  of 
vessel  that  should  be  capable  of  riding  out  bad 
weather  in  the  Atlantic ;  and,  secondly,  the  type  that 
was  required  must  also  have  a  good  turn  of  speed,  for 
two  separate  kinds  of  people  needed  just  such  a  vessel 
as  possessed  these  qualifications.  In  the  first  place, 
there  was  the  brotherhood  of  pilots,  who  were  so  keen 
on  getting  to  the  incoming  ship  that  they  would  race 
for  many  a  long  mile  out  into  the  ocean  so  as  to 
arrive  first.  Secondly,  there  were  the  fishermen  who 
earned  their  living  by  going  to  fish  off  the  Grand 
Banks.  Having  filled  up  with  the  spoil  of  the  sea, 
it  was  their  duty  to  hurry  back  to  market  and  obtain 
the  best  prices  for  their  catch. 

Thus,  owing  to  the  demand  for  these  two  qualities, 
the  Gloucester  designers  and  builders  set  to  work  to 
provide  the  supply,  and  this  they  did  with  the  utmost 
success.  The  coasters  of  the  North  Atlantic  seaboard 
in  northern  America  also  took  to  the  schooner  and 
gave  her  additional  masts  until  as  many  as  seven  have 
been  seen  on  one  of  these  ships.  It  is  characteristic 
that  the  American  prefers  a  plain  fore-and-aft  schooner 
and  not  a  topsail  schooner  which  the  English  coaster 
utilises.      These  American  multiple-masted  schooners 

^  Against  this  origin  of  the  word  the  Dutch  adjective  "schoon"  might  be 
employed  by  those  who  disagree  with  Captain  Clark.  "Schoon,"  in  Holland, 
means  "beautiful,"  "handsome,"  "fine,"  and  "  schoone  "  means  "a  beauty." 
The  latter  is  just  the  expression  which  fits  this  craft. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  203 

need  small  crews,  and  the  slieets  work  on  horses,  so 
they  are  comparatively  handy.  I  believe  that  the 
largest  fore-and-aft  schooner,  and  indeed  the  largest 
wooden  sailing-ship  in  existence,  was  built  last  year  at 
Bath,  U.S.A.  Her  name  is  the  Wyoming,  and  slie 
carries  six  masts,  on  which  she  sets  the  abnormal 
amount  of  12,000  square  yards  of  canvas,  every  sail 
being  a  fore-and-after.  The  hull  is  350  ft.  long,  and 
she  has  only  50  ft.  beam — or  seven  beams  to  the 
length,  the  old  idea  having  been  three  beams  to  the 
length.  The  tonnage  w^orks  out  at  3730  gross.  The 
length  of  her  keel  is  304  ft.,  and  the  depth  of  her 
hold  30  ft.  The  thickness  of  her  planking,  which  is 
of  yellow  pine,  is  six  inches.  The  lower  masts  are 
126  ft.  long,  the  topmasts  are  5Q  ft.  Steel  girders 
are  used  in  the  ship's  construction,  which  would  seem 
to  be  very  necessary  in  the  case  of  a  wooden  ship  of 
such  enormous  lengtii.  Here,  indeed,  is  a  fore-and- 
aft-rigged  schooner  which  is  able  to  carry  6000  tons 
of  coal,  or  as  much  as  a  good-sized  steam  tramp. 

Although  the  Wijoming  is  not  illustrative  of  the 
rule  of  schooners,  but  rather  the  exception,  yet  there 
are  plenty  of  three  and  four- masted  fore-and-afters 
employed  in  the  coasting  trade  of  North  America. 
In  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century  the 
famous  Baltimore  clippers  were  rigged  as  topsail 
schooners.  Their  two  masts  raked  aft,  and  their 
hulls  were  long,  lean,  and  fast.  They  were  of  about 
the  same  size  as  the  Gloucester  schooners — roughly 
50  tons — and  their  successes  as  speedmakers  caused 
them  to  be  copied  by  English  shipbuilders,  especially 
those  of  the  Royal  Yacht  Club  and  the  Royal  Navy. 

How  soon  after  that  year  1713  the  schooner  was 
introduced  into  England  it  is  impossible  to  say ;  but 
in  his  British  Mariner  s  Vocabulary,  written  in  1801, 
Moore  defines  the  schooner  as  "  a  small  vessel  with 
two  masts,  whose  mainsail  and  foresail  are  both  sus- 
pended by  gaffs,  like  a  sloop's  mainsail."      What  an 


204        INFLUENCE    OF    HOLLAND    ON 

English  schooner  of  the  early  'twenties  of  the  nine- 
teenth century  looked  like  may  be  seen  from  the 
accompanying  reproduction  after  Cooke  (Fig.  49). 
It  will  be  recognised  that  she  is  a  topsail  schooner, 
and  her  hull  is  not  unlike  the  collier  brigs  of  that  day. 

But  to  return  to  the  subject  of  the  cutters,  the 
rig  which  has  been  more  developed  in  this  country 
since  the  time  of  Charles  II.  than  any  other  species 
of  the  fore-and-after :  there  were  sloops  which  in  the 
early  eighteenth  century  were  of  such  a  size  and  sea- 
worthiness as  to  cross  the  Atlantic  and  bring  back  to 
the  mother  country  supplies  of  timber  which  the 
American  colonies  afforded.  That  was  a  long  time 
before  the  Revolution  occurred.  The  American 
colonists  at  that  time  also  largely  employed  the  sloop 
for  fishing  and  trading  purposes.  Captain  Clark 
quotes  the  interesting  instance  of  the  sloop  Union,  a 
vessel  of  only  98  tons.  This  fore-and-after  set  forth 
from  Newport,  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  in  August  of 
1794.  Twenty-two  and  a  half  months  later  she  re- 
turned from  an  eventful  voyage,  in  which  time  she 
had  circumnavigated  the  world.  She  proved  herself 
to  be  an  excellent  sea-boat,  and  is  believed  to  be  the 
first  sloop-rigged  craft  that  ever  sailed  around  the 
world.  She  had  the  speed  of  most  modern  sailing- 
ships,  and  averaged  130  knots  a  day. 

Many  readers  will  immediately  be  put  in  mind  of 
the  recent  famous  voyage  of  Captain  Slocum  round 
the  world,  also  in  a  fore-and-after.  This,  indeed,  must 
reckon  as  a  much  finer  achievement,  since  he  was 
single-handed  and  had  a  far  smaller  ship,  but  that 
does  not  detract  from  the  highly  meritorious  cruise 
of  the  Union.  There  have  been  a  number  of  English 
cutters  which  have  crossed  the  Atlantic  to  race  for 
the  America  Cup,  but  all  these,  or  some  of  them,  have 
crossed  as  yawls,  being  specially  jury-rigged  for  the 
trip.  And  there  have  been  numbers  of  schooner 
yachts  which  have  sailed  and  even  raced  from  America 


Fig.  49.  1'.  204 

Earlv  Ninp:teenth  Century  Topsail  Schooner 

The  schooner  is  in  the  background,  and  her  type  was  much  influenced  by  the 
contemporary  collier  brig.  Notice  the  rake  of  the  mainmast.  (From  an  engraving 
by  E.  W.  Cooke.) 


Fig.  50. 


A  Var.mouth  Yawl 


This  shows  the  old-fashioned  North  Sea  lierring-fishing 
craft  with  three  masts  and  three  lugsails.  It  was  in  use  in 
the  time  of  E.  W.  Cooke,  but  is  now  long  since  superseded 
by   the   sailing   ketch   and    the   steam  drifter  and  trawler. 


THE   FORE-AND-Al  T    RIG  205 

to  England  which  have  been  fore-and-aft  rigged,  but 
these  were  at  least  in  the  position  of  having  two  masts 
and  would  not  be  utterly  helpless  if  one  carried  away. 
In  the  case  of  the  Union,  she  had  her  mast  stepped 
about  midships,  had  a  long  hull  and  an  exceptionally 
lengthy  bowsprit,  which  was  well  stccved  so  as  to  be 
as  high  as  possible  above  the  water,  somewhat  after 
the  manner  of  a  full-rigged  ship.  And  whilst  we 
are  on  this  subject  let  us  not  forget  that  Captain 
Amundsen's  ship  the  GJoa,  which  set  forth  from 
Christiania  in  June  1903,  and  three  and  a  half  years 
later  had  proved  for  the  first  time  the  existence  of 
the  North-West  passage  and  arrived  at  San  Francisco, 
was  also  cutter-rigged.  It  is  true  that  she  was  fitted 
wdth  a  motor  giving  the  ship  a  speed  of  four  knots, 
but  she  was  a  smaller  vessel  than  the  Union  by 
some  28  tons. 

Among  the  famous  English  yachts  of  the  'twenties 
must  be  mentioned  the  Pearl,  the  Arroiv,  and  the 
Alarm.  These  were  all  built  as  cutters.  The  Pearl 
was  launched  in  1820  at  Wyvenhoe,  and  was  of  95 
tons.  The  Arrow  was  84  tons.  She  was  altered  and 
rebuilt  many  times  since  she  first  appeared  in  1822. 
The  Alarm,  which  came  out  in  1830,  was  only  seven 
tons  short  of  two  hundred,  and  was  one  of  the  very 
largest  cutters  ever  built.  What  a  gybe  must  have 
been  like  round  a  mark-boat  in  a  smart  breeze  we  can 
w^ell  wonder.  Her  origin  is  not  without  interest,  for 
she  was  designed  from  the  lines  of  a  celebrated  smuggler 
that  was  captured  off  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

It  was  owing  to  the  fact  that  no  time  allowance  was 
granted  that  the  development  of  size  in  yachts  had  gone 
on  unchecked  :  otherwise  such  a  monstrosity  as  the 
Alarm  would  not  have  appeared.  Right  away  as  far 
back  as  the  time  of  Charles  II.  the  English  yachts  had 
been  ballasted  with  shot.  It  was  suggested  to  Christo- 
pher Pett  that  stones  should  be  used  for  this  purpose, 
but  he  wisely  declined  to  entertain  such  an  idea  on  the 


206        INFLUENCE    OF    HOLLAND    ON 

ground  that  it  took  up  too  much  room.  In  this  respect 
Pett  was  more  ahead  of  his  times  than  might  appear, 
for  the  ocean-going  ships  had  for  centuries  had  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  their  valuable  internal  space  taken 
up  by  gravel  ballast,  which  left  but  little  room  for  the 
ship's  stores. 

In  some  of  the  early  nineteenth-century  English 
yachts  gravel  or  stone  blocks  were  still  used,  just  as 
one  still  finds  to  this  day  in  the  case  of  some  of  the 
open  fishing  craft  which  go  out  from  the  shore  to  their 
lobster-pots.  After  that  iron  blocks  were  introduced, 
and  finally  a  reversion  to  the  idea  of  lead.  Bags  of 
shot  were  employed  in  the  last  century  so  that  they 
could  easily  be  moved  up  to  windward  at  each  tack. 
In  1846  lead  pigs  were  used,  and  finally,  ten  years  later, 
in  spite  of  the  frownings  of  the  pessimists,  the  lead 
instead  of  being  used  as  inside  ballast  was  transferred 
to  the  keel  outside.  After  the  battle  of  Waterloo  the 
sport  of  yachting,  and  so  the  development  of  yacht 
architecture  and  everything  connected  with  the  yacht 
from  ballast  to  running  gear,  received  the  advantage 
of  an  enthusiasm  which  had  never  previously  been 
granted ;  and  both  immediately  before  and  immediately 
after  the  Crimean  War  this  enthusiasm  and  interest  had 
been  increased  tenfold.  It  was  because  there  had  been 
so  little  personal  interest  on  the  part  of  the  owner,  such 
scant  encouragement  given  to  the  builder,  such  uni- 
versal ignorance  extant  in  regard  to  problems  of  naval 
design,  such  infrequent  races  for  testing  certain  types 
of  hull  and  rigs,  that  the  progress  since  the  introduction 
of  the  first  JSlary  into  our  own  country  had  been  slow. 

But  then  from  about  the  close  of  the  first  half  of 
the  nineteenth  century  a  new  order  of  things  came  in 
owing  to  the  opposite  of  those  defects  which  we  have 
just  noted.  The  peace  of  nations  was  now  an  assured 
thing.  That  long  era  of  battles  which  had  continued 
for  centuries,  almost  since  the  times  of  our  own  internal 
Wars  of  the  Roses,  had  come  to  an  end.     For  three 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   lilG  207 

hundred  years  we  had  been  fighting  Spain,  Holhind, 
France,  or  two  or  more  of  these  alhed.  It  was  there- 
fore impossible  that  the  smaller  types  of  sailing  craft — 
the  yacht  and  the  small  trader — should  have  a  chance 
of  development  except  in  short  intervals  of  peace  ;  for 
all  the  entliusiasm  and  workmanship  had  to  be  guided 
into  that  channel  which  would  bring  about  a  ship-of- 
war  instead  of  a  ship-of-trade  or  ship-of-pleasure. 

But  now  all  this  was  changed.  The  \'ictorian  sove- 
reignty had  brought  about  peace  and  contentment,  and 
the  effects  of  the  great  industrial  revival  of  the  previous 
century  had  already  caused  so  much  increased  wealth 
to  our  countrymen  that  there  was  an  unprecedented 
army  of  rich  sportsmen  from  whose  ranks  to  draw  a 
large  band  of  yachtsmen.  Here  then  was  the  needful 
force  of  encouragement  to  builders.  This  was  intensified 
by  the  formation  of  powerful  yacht  clubs  having  for 
their  object,  as  the  preamble  to  almost  every  sailing 
and  yacht  club  reads,  "  the  improvement  of  yacht  build- 
ing and  the  encouragement  of  yacht  sailing,"  "  giving 
the  greatest  latitude  in  the  construction,  rigging,  and 
sailing  of  vessels,  consistent  with  their  aptitude  to 
yachting." 

Between  the  years  1823  and  1844  the  Royal  Thames, 
Royal  Northern,  Royal  Western,  Royal  Eastern,  Royal 
St.  George's,  Royal  Southern,  Royal  Harwich,  Royal 
Mersey,  and  Royal  Victoria  Yacht  Clubs  had  been 
established,  additional  of  course  to  the  Royal  Yacht 
Squadron.  Thus,  in  all  parts  of  the  country  the  builders 
and  designers  of  the  fore-and-aft  craft  received  every 
incentive  to  create  the  best  which  materials  and  exist- 
ing knowledge  could  bring  about.  Presently  these 
clubs  were  to  be  added  to  by  the  instituting  of  many 
more  similar  organisations  in  almost  every  suitable 
harbour  or  estuary  in  the  United  Kingdom.  Royal 
patronage  had  also  helped,  and  the  first  royal  cup  was 
given  by  William  IV.  to  the  Royal  Yacht  Squadron  in 
the  year  1834. 


208       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

All  sorts  of  theories  had  for  the  previous  hundred 
years  been  advanced  in  connection  with  the  resistance 
of  water  in  the  progress  of  a  vessel,  and  many  an  attempt 
had  been  made  to  design  such  a  hull  as  would  offer  the 
least  possible  resistance  compatible  with  seaworthiness. 
Of  these  theories  many  were  of  Gallic  origin.  But  in 
the  'forties  Scott  Russell  made  very  valuable  contri- 
butions to  this  science,  suggested  certain  theories  for 
dealing  with  resistance,  and  advocated  a  wave-like 
system.  Others  have  since  increased  this  body  of 
information  by  further  experiments.  It  was  during 
the  'forties  that  designers  began  to  realise  thoroughly 
that  the  old  "  cod's  head  and  mackerel's  tail "  was  a 
long  way  from  the  ideal  design.  So  in  the  year  1848 
there  was  built  on  the  Thames  a  cutter  named  the 
Mosquito,  which  was  entirely  original  in  that  she  pos- 
sessed a  long  hollow  bow,  and  a  short  after-body  of 
great  beam,  and  generally  was  in  conformity  with  the 
lines  advocated  by  Scott  Russell.  She  was  of  70  tons 
displacement,  and  built  not  of  wood  but  of  iron.  How- 
ever, so  great  was  the  existing  blind  prejudice  that  she 
was  not  popularly  received. 

But  in  the  meantime  the  Americans  had  developed 
the  schooner  and  improved  on  the  pilots  and  fishermen 
until  they  were  able  to  produce  a  schooner  yacht. 
During  the  early  'forties  the  yachtsmen  of  the  United 
States  had  been  engaged  in  racing  both  in  sloop  and 
schooner.  In  1844  a  memorable  race  took  place 
between  two  American  yachts,  of  which  one  was 
the  178  ton  centre-board  sloop  31aiia,  which  had  a 
clipper  bow,  and  the  other  was  the  schooner-rigged 
Coquette,  of  74  tons.  The  result  was  that  the 
schooner  won,  for,  thanks  to  the  influence  of  the 
Gloucester  fishermen  and  pilots,  this  type  of  vessel 
had  been  brought  very  close  to  perfection  considering 
the  amount  of  knowledge  then  extant. 

There  was  a  man  in  New  York  of  the  name  of 
George  Steers,  who  had  obtained  a  first-rate  reputa- 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  209 

tion  for  the  building  of  crack  pilot  schooners,  and 
to  him  now  came  the  commission  to  build  a  racing 
schooner  yacht  that  was  to  cross  the  Atlantic  on 
her  own  bottom  and  see  what  she  could  do  in 
English  waters  against  English  craft.  We  are  not 
writing  a  history  of  the  sport  of  yachting,  but  only 
of  the  developments  of  rig  and  hull  as  that  sport 
has  affected  the  same.  Therefore  we  need  not  follow 
this  yacht  into  all  her  activities  over  here.  But  when 
we  say  that  she  was  the  famous  America,  after  which 
the  historic  races  for  the  America  Cup  have  been 
named,  the  reader  will  not  feel  himself  disinterested. 

We  may  add  briefly  that  after  being  built  at  a 
cost  of  £4000  she  reached  Cowes  in  August  of  1851, 
and  on  the  22nd  of  that  month  won  the  special  cup 
offered  by  the  Royal  Yacht  Squadron.  She  beat  the 
best  of  our  crack  cutters  and  schooners  so  handsomely, 
and  was  so  great  a  departure  in  many  of  her  features 
from  the  existing  British  convention,  that  it  did  not 
take  our  fellow-countrymen  long  to  realise  that  the 
America  was  mostly  right  and  we  were  mostly  wrong. 
To  begin  with,  the  America  had  similar  lines  to  the 
despised  Mosquito  of  a  few  years  earlier,  and  the 
characteristics  of  the  Yankee  were,  briefly,  small  dis- 
placement, small  midships  sectional  area,  and  her  hull 
was  distinctly  small  in  proportion  to  her  dimensions. 
Her  water-lines  were  also  much  sharper  than  had  pre- 
viously been  attempted  in  the  case  of  large  yachts. 

She  was  also  a  contrast  in  other  respects  as  com- 
pared with  the  best  contemporary  English  yachts. 
Firstly,  she  was  a  schooner,  whereas  most  of  our 
yachts  were  cutters.  Secondly,  her  sails,  unlike  those 
horrible-looking  windbags  which  we  have  seen  from 
Daniell  and  Cooke,  were  cut  so  that  when  set  they 
were  tight  and  flat.  Consequently,  with  the  fine 
entrance  hues  of  the  hull  and  the  well-fitting  sails 
to  propel  her  the  America  went  to  windward  in  a 
splendid  manner. 

o 


210       INFLUENCE    OF   HOLLAND   ON 

After  her  departure  there  remained  her  influence. 
As  the  America  had  been  a  schooner,  the  Alarm 
(193  tons)  was  in  1852  lengthened  by  20  feet  at  the 
l30w  and  rigged  as  a  schooner,  which  made  her  to 
be  of  248  tons.  As  the  Ame?ica  had  the  newer  type 
of  close-fitting,  flat  sails,  so  the  Alarm  copied  her 
example,  and  she  subsequently  appeared  with  one 
enormous  triangular  jib  but  no  staysail,  the  foresail 
having  a  gaff  but  no  boom,  and  the  mainsail  with 
both  boom  and  gaff.  In  other  words,  she  was  very 
similar  to  the  prevailing  pilot  schooners  of  North 
America.  Furthermore,  instead  of  the  old  idea 
which  England  had  copied  from  the  Dutch,  to  which 
she  still  clung,  in  having  the  loose-footed  mainsail, 
the  latter  was  laced  to  the  spar,  the  jib  worked  on 
the  forestay  and  was  laced  along  the  foot  to  a  boom 
also. 

The  net  result  of  all  this  was  that  English  sail- 
makers  began  to  cut  better  sails  and  English  designers 
began  to  evolve  better  hulls.  For  a  time,  from  about 
1852  to  1865,  there  was  a  craze  for  American  centre- 
board craft,  but  there  was  also  a  craze  for  schooners, 
thanks  to  the  Ameiica's  success.  In  the  'sixties  the 
yawl  rig  also  became  the  fashion,  following  the  popu- 
larity of  the  schooner,  for  it  provided  a  half-way  stage 
between  the  schooner  and  the  single-masted  cutter. 

But  it  is  when  we  come  to  study  the  ten  years 
that  are  covered  by  the  dates  1870  and  1880  that  we 
begin  to  see  a  still  greater  activity.  It  had  been 
preceded  by  a  fine  fleet  of  cutter  yachts  that  included 
the  famous  Olmara,  built  in  1867,  and  still  used,  but 
as  a  houseboat  in  Poole  Harbour,  above  bridge.  Her 
spars  were  all  big,  and  her  great  topmast  and  lengthy 
bowsprit  were  characteristic  of  that  period.  The 
tonnage  of  this  vessel  is  135.  The  Aline  and 
Egeria  also  belong  to  this  period,  the  former  being 
historic  as  having  been  the  first  yacht  to  discard  the 
rake  which  was  always  given  to  the  mast  previously. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  112 

The  'seventies  saw  a  real  awakening  in  yachting — 
a  new  birth  as  it  were.  There  were  big  scliooners, 
cutters,  and  yawls,  and  yacht-building  yards  were 
busily  employed.  It  was  during  this  period  that  the 
famous  forty-tonners  came  into  being  that  numbered 
in  their  class  among  others  the  well-known  Foxhound 
and  Bloodhound.  The  last  mentioned  has  attracted 
an  increased  amount  of  attention  by  her  return  to 
racing  during  this  twentieth  century.  She  was 
recently  altered  by  Fife,  and  has  done  remarkably 
well  in  handicap  races  when  we  recollect  her  great 
age  as  compared  with  modern  flyers.  Under  the 
new  modification  the  Bloodliound  was  given  a  raised 
sail-plan,  and  the  ballast  was  brought  lower  down. 
In  addition  to  this  the  forefoot  was  cut  away,  and 
she  was  thus  made  quicker  in  stays. 

But  besides  these  celebrated  forty-tonners  we  must 
call  attention  to  the  equally  famous  Jullanar,  which 
was  representative  not  of  a  class  but  as  a  special  and 
original  creation.  The  Jullanar,  which  we  have  here 
reproduced  in  Fig.  51,  from  the  model  in  the  South 
Kensington  Museum,  is  indeed  a  milestone  on  the 
road  which  begins  in  the  late  sixteenth  century  and 
reaches  on  to  the  present  day.  Perhaps  there  was 
no  designer  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  of  our  own  time 
that  did  so  much  for  this  development  as  the  late 
Mr.  G.  L.  Watson.  His  name  was  associated  with 
a  fleet  of  crack  yachts  that  is  too  numerous  to  give 
here.  And  when  it  is  remembered  that  JNIr.  Watson 
frankly  admitted  that  he  himself  was  considerably 
influenced  in  his  designing  by  the  lines  of  the 
Jullanar,  we  have  every  right  to  regard  this  vessel 
as  one  of  the  highest  importance.  To  some  extent 
the  excellent  illustration  will  here  speak  for  itself, 
and  the  fewest  words  will  suffice  to  demonstrate  her 
especial  features.  Her  birthplace  was  in  Essex,  that 
county  which  has  brought  forth  so  many  famous  craft 
and  equally  famous  sailor-men. 


212       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

Designed  by  a  Mr.  E.  H.  Benthall,  the  JuUanar^ 
of  126  tons,  was  built  in  the  year  1875.  In  this  model 
the  old-fashioned  straight  stem  and  the  old-time  stern 
have  vanished  altogether.  There  is  not  a  trace — in 
detail  at  least — of  the  former  Dutch  influence.  Her 
bow,  however,  shows  some  connection  with  the  pre- 
vailing schooner  of  that  period,  and  so  with  the  clipper- 
ships  which  were  then  fast  coming  to  the  end  of  their 
limit  of  usefulness.  This  yacht  showed  herself  such  a 
success,  and  possessed  of  so  great  a  speed,  that  Mr. 
Watson  based  his  design  for  the  famous  Thistle  on  the 
lessons  to  be  learned  from  the  Essex  craft,  although 
the  Thistle  did  not  actually  appear  till  the  year  1887- 

It  was  in  the  year  1875  that  the  Yacht  Racing 
Association  was  established,  and  it  is  important  to 
bear  in  mind  the  existence  of  that  society,  for  it  has 
been  a  powerful  controlling  agent  ever  since  that  date 
in  determining  the  trend  of  the  architecture  of  our 
yachts.  The  object  aimed  at  throughout  the  history  of 
these  measurement  rules  has  been  to  cause,  if  possible, 
the  winning  boat  to  attain  victory  not  by  reason  of 
her  size,  but  owing  to  her  superiority  of  model.  This 
of  course  eliminates  for  the  moment  the  important 
question  of  the  human  element,  which,  after  all,  is 
frequently  the  means  of  separating  a  loss  from  a  win. 
But  it  is  impossible  to  legislate  for  such  uncertainties 
as  human  ability,  though  the  aim  of  the  rules  being 
as  indicated,  it  throws  a  very  heavy  onus  on  the 
designer.  It  is  only  reasonable  and  fair  that  the  yacht 
which  wins  should  be  the  fastest  for  her  size,  and  that 
her  victory  should  go  not  to  the  millionaire  necessarily, 
but  to  the  most  scientific  creation.  In  both  cases,  the 
small  and  the  large,  the  element  of  good  seamanship, 
of  nerve,  of  personal  daring  and  mental  ability,  are 
entirely  essential.  Given  equal  chances,  and  two 
vessels  of  almost  equally  good  design,  the  winning 
gun  will  go  almost  certainly  to  the  better  helmsman, 
even  if  his  crew  is  slightly  the  inferior  of  his  rival. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  213 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  the  different  measurement 
rules  in  some  years  have  retarded  rather  than  assisted 
the  progress  of  a  sound,  healthy  type.  But  this  was 
almost  inevitable  in  the  case  of  a  comparatively  unde- 
veloped sport  in  which  science  and  the  knowledge  only 
to  be  obtained  from  experience  enter  so  much.  Perhaps 
it  was  necessary  to  make  mistakes  in  order  to  learn  for 
future  years  what  was  necessarily  to  be  avoided.  For 
whenever  it  is  announced  by  the  authority  that  such 
and  such  a  feature  will  be  taxed,  it  becomes  the  duty 
of  the  designer  to  bring  about  such  a  yacht  as  will  be 
able  to  suffer  least  by  those  restrictions.  His  duty  is 
to  cheat  the  rule  as  far  as  possible,  so  that  the  yacht 
will  not  be  penalised  unduly. 

We  have  no  intention  to  try  the  reader's  attention 
by  placing  before  him  a  number  of  mathematical 
formulcB,  which  belong  to  the  more  detailed  considera- 
tion of  the  subject  and  would  detract  from  the  clear- 
ness of  our  vista.  Rut  we  may  say  at  once  that  the 
first  method  of  finding  the  common  denominator  was 
by  means  of  the  Thames  measurement,  a  system  that 
was  found  wanting  and  subsequently  altered. 

This  newest  arrangement  led  to  the  production  of 
a  type  of  yacht  that  was  altogether  unhappy  and  a 
mistake.  The  new  rule  had  the  effect  of  encouraging 
the  designers  to  make  a  craft  extremely  long,  very 
deep,  and  excessively  narrow,  so  that  they  were 
familiarly  known  as  "  planks-on-edge."  It  was  a 
thoroughly  unwholesome  type,  and  required  a  perfect 
lead  mine  to  keep  them  upright.  The  reader  will 
remember  that  in  the  olden  days  the  principle  was 
three  beams  to  the  length.  So  far  had  the  reaction 
now  set  in  that  the  case  of  a  craft  having  a  length 
six  times  that  of  her  beam  actually  occurred.  She  had 
on  her  keel  an  amount  equal  to  about  one-half  of  her 
displacement  tonnage,  whilst  she  could  not  carry  the 
full  amount  of  sail  that  a  vessel  of  that  tonnage  should 
have  been  expected  to  carry.     The  fact  was  that  the 


214       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

measurement  rules  penalised  all  yachts  with  beam,  and 
so  the  designers  were  driven  to  make  vessels  deeper, 
but,  so  to  speak,  as  narrow  as  a  plank  when  set  on 
its  edge. 

In  the  year  1877  the  plank-on-edge  became  obsolete, 
the  system  of  measuring  yachts  by  their  tonnage  was 
discarded,  and  a  system  of  rating  by  length  on  the 
water-line  and  sail-area  was  adopted.  The  effect  of 
this  was  to  penalise  only  the  yacht's  water-line  and 
her  sail-area.  The  designer's  object,  therefore,  was 
not  to  bring  out  a  narrow,  deep  craft,  but  it  was  left  to 
him  to  give  her  as  short  a  water-line  length  as  he  liked, 
and  to  cut  down  her  sail-area.  Now  it  is  evident  that 
this  did  not  put  a  tax  on  the  length-over-all,  so  conse- 
quently one  of  the  ideas  demonstrated  in  the  Jullanar 
was  here  at  hand  waiting  to  be  developed,  and  the 
design  permitted  long  overhangs  at  bow  and  stern, 
which  were  not  penalised.  Through  this  a  much  better 
type  of  yacht  was  evolved,  for  her  overhangs  made  her 
a  drier  and  better  boat  altogether.  Beam  was  not 
penalised,  and  there  was  an  opportunity  to  build  a 
type  that  was  healthy  and  sensible,  and  thus  it  became 
possible  for  such  excellent  craft  as  the  Creole,  Queen 
3Iab,  Corsah%  and  others  to  come  into  being,  yachts 
whose  names  and  hulls  are  still  fresh  in  the  memory 
of  many  yachtsmen. 

Thus  at  last,  after  centuries  of  learning  and  experi- 
ment, after  much  ignorance  and  many  a  mistake,  the 
cutter  had  become  very  nearly  perfect,  a  fast  yet  good 
sea-boat,  handy  yet  comfortable,  stiff  yet  not  unduly 
ballasted,  a  real  ship  and  not  a  racing  machine.  Cotton 
and  silk  sails  had  been  adopted,  and  about  the  year 
1866  a  new  sail,  the  spinnaker,  had  been  brought  into 
use,  and  utilised  to  enormous  areas  on  the  racing 
yachts  especially.  The  first  occasion  in  which  a  yacht 
carried  this  sail  was,  I  believe,  the  Niobe.  Its  deriva- 
tion can  easily  be  traced  to  the  studding-sail,  which 
was  still  in  use  during  the  'sixties  on  the  clippers  and 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  215 

the  auxiliary  men-of-war  in  the  service.  Rut  there 
was  evidently  a  desire  for  such  a  sail  many  years  before 
this,  for  there  is  on  record  an  incident  belonging  to  the 
year  1797.  In  that  year  the  yacht  Blue  Dragon  was 
racing  in  a  match  on  the  Thames,  and  was  disqualified 
for  having  boomed  out  her  jib  during  the  race. 

It  is,  then,  from  the  'nineties  of  the  nineteenth  cen- 
tiuy  that  the  next  awakening  comes  in  the  development 
of  the  fore-and-aft  yacht.  In  the  early  stages  yachting 
was  exclusively  a  rich  man's  recreation.  Even  up  till 
the  'seventies  it  was  still  a  close  preserve,  and  owed  its 
success  almost  as  much  to  its  social  connection  as  for 
pure  sport.  Rut  from,  at  any  rate,  the  'nineties,  yacht- 
ing— the  enthusiasm  for  the  fore-and-after — began  to 
receive  adherents  in  tens  where  previously  it  had  been 
only  by  units.  It  was  not  merely  the  nobleman  nor 
the  millionaire  who  now  put  to  sea  in  his  own  craft.  It 
was  the  comparatively  poor  man  who,  content  to  dis- 
pense with  the  expensive  crew,  and  happy  to  cruise  or 
race  in  smaller  craft,  sw^elled  the  ranks  of  the  keen 
yachtsmen.  The  'eighties  had  seen  him  coming,  but 
the  'nineties  saw  him  fully  arrived.  The  consequence 
is  that  a  whole  army  of  designers  and  builders  have 
arisen  intent  on  creating,  not  hundred-ton  racing 
machines,  but  anything  from  a  dinghy  to  twenty  tons. 
All  sorts  of  improvements  as  to  design,  internal  accom- 
modation, rigging,  and  so  on,  have  been  evolved  for  the 
"  poor "  man's  benefit.  In  short,  as  the  democratic 
spirit  was  spreading  on  land,  so  it  was  to  manifest  itself 
afloat. 

Having  now  traced  the  evolution  of  the  fore-and-aft 
yacht  up  to  the  commencement  of  the  last  decade  of 
the  nineteenth  century,  we  may  leave  that  branch  of 
our  subject  for  a  httle  and  pass  on.  It  has  intentionally 
been  our  purpose  to  deal  with  the  development  of  the 
yacht  to  such  an  extent,  for  that  is  the  craft  which  has 
done  more  for  the  evolution  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  than 
the  pilot  or  the  fisherman,  reckoned  as  an  historic  whole. 


216       INFLUENCE   OF   HOLLAND   ON 

Even  in  the  early  days  of  the  nineteenth  century,  an 
erstwhile  yacht  was  often  to  end  her  life  as  a  fisher- 
man. Gradually  both  fishermen  and  pilots — especially 
when  stationed  at  some  yachting  resort — have  now 
begun  to  adopt  some  improvement  first  seen  and  de- 
veloped on  the  yacht.  It  is  true  that  the  yachtsman 
has  had  much  to  learn  from  both  these  two  classes  of 
seamen,  but  the  converse  is  also  true  if  we  look  at  the 
matter  as  a  period  and  not  in  any  particular  year. 

There  are  certain  types  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig,  as, 
for  instance,  the  luggers,  which  can  have  but  little 
attraction  for  the  amateur  sailor-man  except  for  quite 
small  craft.  This  rig  he  cannot  be  said,  then,  to  have 
assisted  in  developing.  But  most  certainly  he  has  helped 
to  convince  the  fisherman  that  to  be  a  good,  sound  sea- 
worthy, sea-keeping  craft,  the  fishing-vessel  need  not 
necessarily  be  bluff  or  clumsy,  need  not  even  be  slow. 
On  the  other  hand,  the  yachtsman  has  learned  from 
the  professional  the  value  of  strong  but  simple  gear,  of 
not  overburdening  his  ship  with  too  many  "patents." 
He  has  learned,  too,  that  while  "  putty  and  paint 
cover  a  multitude  of  blemishes,"  yet  there  is  some- 
thing to  be  said  for  having  a  vessel  decorated  as  if  she 
were  meant  for  service  and  not  for  show.  It  is  this 
delightful  spirit,  in  fact,  of  mutual  improvement  and 
mutual  sympathy — I  dare  not  say  admiration — which 
has  done  and  is  doing  much  for  the  amelioration  of  the 
fore-and-after.  Most  of  those  able  hands  on  our  crack 
racing-yachts  go  back  to  their  fishing-boats  during  the 
winter.  They  bring  to  their  work  on  the  yacht  a 
knowledge  of  seamanship,  a  sea-sense  that  could  not 
be  excelled.  But  they  go  back  to  their  clumsier  craft 
with  some  reverence  and  respect  for  science  as  applied 
to  the  ship. 

Similarly  the  yachting  enthusiast,  from  his  associa- 
tion with  the  fisherman  or  the  coaster,  unlearns  a  good 
deal  of  fancy  theory  and  acquires  a  new  standard  by 
which  to  work.     Time  has  wrought  many  changes  on 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG  217 

both  yachts  and  fishing  vessels  during  the  last  sixty 
years,  and  we  have  ah-eady  been  enabled  to  watch  some 
of  the  main  causes  which  have  been  at  the  origin  of 
these.  The  old-fashioned  methods  were  found  want- 
ing, and  it  was  high  time  that  a  new  order  of  things 
should  come  about.  Whilst  we  can  never  be  too 
grateful  to  the  Dutch  for  having  shown  us  the  broad 
essentials  at  first,  yet  we  have  not  rested  content  with 
that.  America  has  given  us  ideas,  as  we  saw  just  now 
in  regard  to  the  two-master,  the  design  of  hulls,  and  the 
cut  of  sails.  But  these  Dutch  and  American  ideas  have 
been  assimilated  and  improved  on — they  have  been 
mingled  with  those  scientific  ideas  which  we  learnt 
direct  from  the  French,  so  that  finally  an  English  fore- 
and-after  is  something  distinct,  something  characteristic 
of  its  nationality,  something  which  actually  reacts  on 
Holland,  America,  and  France  that  were  its  own  teachers 
in  part. 

But  we  have  dealt  only  with  a  portion  of  this  de- 
velopment of  the  fore-and-aft  rig.  Before  we  have 
finished  our  task  we  must  needs  see  to  what  stages  of 
development  northern  Europe  of  to-day  has  attained 
in  its  fore-and-afters.  We  have  closely  studied  the 
past ;  let  us  now  look  into  the  present.  And  for  this 
purpose  we  shall  examine  the  fore-and-afters  of  this 
twentieth  century  as  we  find  them  in  Scandinavian 
waters,  in  Holland,  Belgium,  France,  the  waters  of 
the  United  Kingdom,  as  well  in  yachts  as  in  traders, 
fishermen,  and  pilot  craft.  By  this  means  we  shall 
have  made  our  picture  as  complete  as  we  can  hope 
to  paint  it. 

Types  are  themselves  most  interesting,  but  one 
sacrifices  half  the  pleasure  and  interest  if  we  know  not 
why  and  how  such  types  have  evolved.  The  mind  is 
not  satisfied  to  consider  a  phenomenon ;  it  aspires  to 
know  the  cause  thereof.  It  is  in  this  spirit,  then,  that 
we  may  now  proceed  with  confidence  to  see  the  modern 
expressions  of  that  rig  whose  first  beginnings  we  have 


218  THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

endeavoured  to  trace.  And  we  shall  illustrate  these 
types  from  sketches  of  the  actual  craft,  from  photo- 
graphs, from  models,  and  from  the  plans  of  those 
designers  who  have  been  accustomed  to  design  these 
vessels,  whose  names  as  experts  in  these,  particular  craft 
are  recognised  by  those  who  have  the  duty  of  sailing  in 
them.  It  shall  be  our  endeavour  by  these  means  to  put 
all  doubt  beyond  possibility  of  occurring. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE    FORE-AND-AFT    RIG    TO-DAY    IN    GREAT    BRITAIN 
AND    AMERICA 

IT  is  not  to  be  expected  that  every  single  variation 
of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  can  possibly  be  minutely 
examined  within  the  number  of  pages  here  allotted. 
Such  a  demand  would  take  up  more  space  than  we 
have  at  our  disposal.  And  yet  as  we  look  through  the 
material  which  is  here  gathered  together,  it  will  be 
found  that  the  most  representative  and  the  most 
interesting  examples  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig  as  to-day 
it  manifests  itself  in  different  localities  have  been 
brought  under  our  gaze.  As  we  pursue  our  way 
through  our  own  country,  through  the  countries  of 
northern  Europe  and  America  ;  as  we  stop  to  note 
first  in  one  region  and  then  in  another  the  different 
ways  in  which  the  shipman  has  seen  fit  to  modify  the 
rig  for  local  usage  and  his  own  especial  purposes,  we 
shall  encompass  practically  the  whole  of  the  subject. 

And  if  we  should  feel  inclined  to  wonder  that  there 
should  be  so  many  species  of  the  genus,  it  is  not  diffi- 
cult to  find  a  reason.  It  will  generally  be  found  that 
the  local  craft  employed  in  any  particular  district  is 
that  which  is  best  suited  for  that  region.  There  are 
special  inducements,  for  example,  that  influence  the 
fisherman  in  some  parts  of  the  country  to  put  to  sea  in 
the  lugger,  whilst  another  kind  of  fishing  work,  with 
the  home  harbours  of  a  different  character  and  the 
fishing  grounds  many  miles  further  out,  demands  a 
type  of  rig  totally  different  from  the  lug.     It  may  be 


220      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

the  ketch  or  it  may  be  the  cutter,  but  as  a  general 
rule  the  fisherman  knows  what  is  best  for  his  own 
branch  of  the  industry. 

We  say  generally,  for  some  allowance  must  be  made 
for  human  nature — for  ignorance,  conserv^atism,  and 
pig-headedness.  It  is  proof  of  his  fallibility  that  in 
many  an  instance  he  has  seen  fit  to  change  from  the 
lugsail  to  the  cutter  or  ketch.  Had  the  lug  really 
been  the  ideal  rig  there  would  have  been  no  reason 
for  changing.  In  some  cases  it  is  true  that  certain 
new  conditions,  such  as  the  formation  of  new  channels, 
the  constructing  of  new  harbour- works,  the  discovery 
of  other  fishing  grounds,  have  made  it  more  con- 
venient to  adopt,  it  may  be,  a  handier  rig  for  beating 
to  windward,  for  working  short  tacks,  for  carrying  a 
good  deal  of  way  on  so  as  to  shoot  well  inside  the 
entrance  to  the  haven,  or  for  making  longer  passages. 
But  these  are  rather  in  the  nature  of  exceptions.  In 
the  olden  days,  for  instance,  the  herring-fishing  craft 
of  Great  Yarmouth  were  still  three-masted  luggers, 
with  a  rig  that  was  akin  to  the  old  Dutch  three-masted 
buss-ships,  except  that  the  latter  were  square-rigged, 
and  with  a  hull  that  was  highly  reminiscent  of  the 
Scheveningen  pink.  That  was  so  as  late  as  about  1830. 
Such  hulls  as  remain  of  these  old  Yarmouth  "  yawl " 
type  are  now  cutter-rigged  and  employed  as  pleasure 
boats  during  the  summer  from  the  beach.  A  glance 
at  the  reproduction  here  given  (Fig.  50)  from  Cooke 
should  be  followed  by  reference  to  the  hull  of  the 
Dutch  pink  to  be  found  on  another  page. 

We  may  take  it  as  a  general  law  that  when  two 
coasts,  irrespective  of  nationality,  are  separated  by  not 
more  than  about  a  hundred  miles  of  sea,  the  difi^ering 
craft  of  those  two  nations  will  influence  each  other. 
The  reason  is  not  far  to  seek.  The  fishermen  go  out 
to  the  open  sea  from  both  sides.  They  even  run  into 
each  others'  ports  sometimes  through  stress  of  weather 
or  other  cause.     You  see  Lowestoft  drifters  in  Ostend 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     221 

harbour,  and  you  see  Frenchmen,  Dutchmen,  and  Bel- 
gians in  Lowestoft.  You  see  French  fishermen  off  the 
SciUies  and  in  Falmouth  harbour ;  you  see  English 
fishermen  in  the  French  ports.  And  as  the  progress  of 
time  has  gone  on  an  opportunity  has  been  afforded 
of  mutual  appreciation  or  criticism  of  the  craft  of 
other  nationalities. 

And  this  has  not  unnaturally  occurred  with  greatest 
frequence  in  the  case  of  those  fishing  ports  which  more 
or  less  directly  face  each  other.  For  instance,  Great 
Yarmouth  and  Scheveningen,  Sussex  and  the  French 
coast,  Scotland  and  Norway,  have  each  other  for 
opposite  neighbours,  and  we  are  not  surprised  to  find 
that  the  pink  resembles  the  old-fashioned  Yarmouth 
herring-lugger,  and  that  the  Hastings,  Brighton,  and 
other  Sussex  luggers  have  a  bond  of  relationship  which 
binds  them  to  the  luggers  of  the  north  French  coast, 
while  the  hulls  of  many  of  the  older-fashioned  Scotch 
fishing  craft  are  allied  by  a  similar  influence  to  the 
craft  of  Norway.  Just  as  it  was  the  custom  for  the 
smugglers  to  run  across  from  France  to  the  ports  on 
the  southern  English  shore  that  were  in  a  direct  line, 
so  in  the  same  way  has  the  influence  of  rig  come  along 
the  shortest  route  and  requiring  the  least  effort. 

As  it  was  yesterday,  so  it  is  to-day.  Years  ago  our 
south-coast  fishermen  copied  the  lugsails  of  the  French : 
that  was  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and  not  anterior  to 
the  year  1770.  To-day  the  French  luggers  are  slowly 
but  surely  being  replaced  by  the  English  type  of  ketch. 
In  the  olden  days  the  English  used  to  look  to  Holland 
for  improvements  in  fishing  gear ;  but  whilst  these 
pages  were  being  written  a  Dutch  ship  came  over, 
entered  Great  Yarmouth,  and  loaded  up  with  a  large 
cargo  of  English-made  nets  for  the  fisheries  of  the 
Low  Countries. 

It  is  obvious,  then,  that  the  bald  statement  that 
whatever  craft  may  be  found  in  use  in  any  particular 
locality  is  therefore  the  best  for  such  a  region,  must  be 


222      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

modified  by  an  additional  assertion  that  it  is  the  best 
only  until  something  better  is  tried.  Otherwise  the 
lugger  would  not  have  been  supplanted  by  the  ketch, 
and  the  ketch  by  the  steam  trawler.  There  was  a  time 
when  the  bluff- bowed  craft  was  thought  to  be  ideal  for 
sea- work,  but  no  one  would  to-day  make  such  an 
assertion  in  the  face  of  the  cleaner,  finer  lines  which 
are  accepted  by  yacht  as  well  as  fishing-boat. 

We  spoke  just  now  of  the  Sussex  luggers.  They 
are  still  to  be  seen  in  the  English  Channel.  One  meets 
them  at  work  in  Dungeness  Bay,  or  off  Fairlight,  or 
between  Newhaven  and  Selsey  Bill,  and  at  night  the 
sea  is  dotted  with  a  pattern  of  small  yellow  lights  as 
they  pursue  their  calling,  looking  at  a  distance  for  all 
the  world  like  so  many  glow-worms.  Like  the  Scotch- 
man, the  Cornishman,  and  the  Manxman,  the  Sussex 
fisherman  still  sticks  to  the  lug  because  he  has  not  yet 
advanced  to  the  belief  which  is  shared  by  Yarmouth, 
Lowestoft,  the  Thames  estuary,  Ramsgate,  Spithead, 
Poole,  Brixham,  Plymouth,  and  Lancashire  that  the 
cutter  or  ketch  is  the  better  type  of  rig.  According  as 
to  whether  these  luggers  have  to  be  beached,  to  keep 
afloat  in  deep  harbours,  or  to  take  the  ground  at  low 
tide,  so  the  lines  of  their  hull  have  been  modified,  but 
the  lugsail  as  a  rig  has  continued. 

In  the  illustration  (Fig.  52)  Cooke  gives  us  a  type 
of  the  Brighton  mackerel  craft  of  the  year  1830.  These 
boats  were  known  as  hoggies.  With  their  round,  bluff 
bows,  their  foresail  working  on  the  forestay,  with  their 
sprit-mainsail  and  their  leeboards,  they  showed  a  curious 
exception  to  the  all-prevailing  French  lugger.  On  one 
of  these  boats  astern  to  the  left  of  the  picture  it  will  be 
seen  that,  additional  to  the  foresail,  main,  and  mizzen, 
there  was  sometimes  also  set  a  jib,  for  which  purpose  a 
bowsprit  was  run  out. 

The  same  artist  in  other  of  his  pictures,  both  colour 
and  etchings,  shows  us  these  craft  hauled  up  on  the 
beach  (Fig.  53).     They  had  transom  sterns,  w^ere  very 


Fig-  53- 


p.  22-2 


Brighton  Hoggies 


Notice  the  ledge  on  which  the  leeboard  can  rest.    The  bumpkin  was 
always  sweated  well  down  as  here  shown.     (After  E.  W.  Cooke.) 


Fig-  54- 


Scarborough  "Mulp:" 

This  type  of  Yorkshire  cobble  has  a  whaler  stern  instead  of  the 
older  transom  stern. 


P.  222 


GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     223 

tubby,  clinker-built,  and  had  a  couj^le  of  bilge-keels  on 
either  side  of  the  hull.  They  were  given  a  half-deck 
from  forward  to  the  mast.  The  bobstay  led  out  to  the 
end  of  the  bumpkin,  which  was  bowsed  down  to  such  an 
extent  that  the  bumpkin  pointed  its.  nose  down  to  the 
water  instead  of  up  to  the  sky  as  in  the  old-fashioned 
Dutch  craft.  The  forestay,  which  led  to  the  outer  end 
of  this  bumpkin,  was  secured  by  means  of  a  couple  of 
blocks.  The  mast  was  supported  by  a  single  shroud 
on  either  side,  which  could  be  tightened  by  means 
of  a  couple  of  blocks,  and  the  mainsheet  worked  on  a 
horse. 

Some,  but  not  all,  of  these  craft  carried  a  mizzen, 
and  very  interesting  to  note  is  that  very  Dutch-like 
ledge  we  demonstrated  in  an  earlier  chapter,  which  is 
used  for  resting  the  leeboard  when  not  in  use  for  wind- 
ward work,  and  is  also  seen  in  these  craft.  But  simul- 
taneous with  the  existence  of  these  boats  were  the 
Brighton  luggers  as  well.  They  were  two-stickers, 
one  mast  being  placed  in  the  very  eyes  of  the  boat,  the 
little  mizzen  being  stepped  as  far  astern  as  it  could  be 
placed,  and  given  an  outrigger  for  working  the  mizzen- 
sheet.  Having  arrived  at  the  fishing  grounds,  the  big 
mast  was  lowered  down  into  a  substantial  crutch,  while 
the  little  mizzen  helped  to  keep  the  craft's  head  to  wind. 
The  bilge-rest,  as  in  the  Dutchmen  and  the  hoggies, 
was  also  retained.  It  was  useful  when  these  somewhat 
deep-bodied  boats  were  beached,  but  its  origin  would 
seem  to  have  come  from  Holland,  whence  certain  other 
of  the  features  of  its  hull  most  certainly  originated. 
]\Iore  correctly  stated,  we  might  remark  that  the  hoggie 
was  the  bearer  of  the  Dutch  influence,  and  that  this  boat 
conveyed  certain  of  her  foreign  features  to  the  Brighton 
lugger. 

We  may  well  be  proud  as  a  nation  that  we  have 
done  what  we  have  for  the  cause  of  ship  development. 
But  as  soon  as  we  begin  to  examine  into  the  evolution 
of  any  craft,  large   or   small,  fore-and-aft  or   square- 


224      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

rigged  that  hail  from  any  of  our  ports,  we  forthwith 
reahse  that  there  is,  strictly  speaking,  no  such  thing 
as  a  pure-bred  English  sailing  vessel.  Every  craft 
that  is  of  English  registration,  build,  or  design  is  a 
mongrel.  She  is  in  part  Scandinavian,  in  part  Dutch, 
in  part  French,  and  as  regards  sails,  especially  in  the 
case  of  the  schooner-rig,  partly  American.  And,  as  we 
have  seen,  further  back  still  these  craft  are  Mediter- 
ranean and  even  Oriental.  It  is  as  an  adapter,  as  an 
improver  on  other  nations'  ideas  that  we  have  excelled, 
rather  than  as  real  originators. 

It  is  just  and  proper  that  we  should  exult  in  our 
pride  of  country,  in  our  record  as  sailor-men  and  ship- 
men,  but  we  must  not  let  our  enthusiasm  carry  us  away 
so  that  we  forget  the  measure  of  our  indebtedness  to 
other  countries.  Only  in  the  steamship,  both  for  war 
and  for  peace,  can  we  be  said  to  have  been  the  prime 
cause,  to  have  led  the  way,  and  even  this  triumph 
would  never  have  come  about  but  for  the  data  which 
sailing  vessels  of  previous  ages  had  provided  for  the 
construction  of  the  hulls. 

We  referred  just  now  to  the  relation  of  Norway  to 
Scotland  in  the  matter  of  the  fore-and-after.  This  is 
no  fanciful  but  a  real  relation.  Up  to  about  the  year 
1860  the  Scotch  fishing  craft  were  altogether  influenced 
by  the  boats  across  the  North  Sea,  and  to-day  there  is 
still  a  strong  family  likeness  in  the  hulls.  It  is  only 
because  bigger,  decked,  and  generally  more  seaworthy 
craft  were  required  so  as  to  ply  the  industry  further  out 
from  the  shore  that  the  Norwegian  model  began  to  be 
greatly  modified.  Carvel-built  boats  replaced  the  old 
clinker  type,  which  had  existed  right  from  the  time 
when  the  Vikings  used  to  construct  ships ;  the  old 
square-sail  of  the  Norse  kings  had  become  a  lug,  and 
because  of  the  Scottish  national  characteristic  for  stub- 
bornness the  lug  has  been  continued  since  it  has  been 
in  use  for  so  long  a  period  and  every  man  and  boy 
brought  up  to  using  it.     There  was   a   brief  interval 


IN    GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     225 

when  the  smack-rig  was  employed,  but  to-day  the  lug- 
sail  is  doing  much  more  than  holding  its  own. 

It  would  be  an  interesting  study  to  discuss  separately 
the  varying  qualities  of  the  "  nabbies,"  "  skiffs,"  "  zulus," 
and  other  species  of  these  Scotch  craft  did  our  space 
permit.  But  underlying  them  is  the  broad  influence  of 
the  whale-boat,  and  so  of  the  Norwegian  and  the  Viking 
craft.  The  influence  of  Holland  in  relation  to  the 
Scotch  craft  is  practically  nil,  and  this  is  surprising 
when  we  consider  that  in  the  early  seventeenth  century, 
and  earlier  still,  great  fleets  of  herring-busses  used  to 
cross  the  North  Sea  from  the  Netherlands  and  fish  off 
the  north-east  Scottish  coast.  Certainly  as  regards 
influence  Scotland  has  always  been  much  nearer  to 
Scandinavia  than  to  Holland.  No  one  who  has  been 
to  the  Orkneys  and  Shetlands  can  have  failed  to  have 
been  struck  with  the  existence  of  certain  characteristics 
common  to  the  two  peoples  on  either  side  of  the  sea ; 
and  this  similarity  is  confined  not  merely  to  the  people, 
but  it  manifests  itself  in  even  some  of  the  smallest 
rowing-boats.  The  skiffs  and  herring-boats  of  Denmark, 
of  Norway,  and  the  Baltic  have  clearly  cast  their  spell 
over  the  Scotch  fisherman.  In  Norway  the  old  historic 
square-sail  of  the  Vikings  has  not  vanished  utterly, 
but  it  has  in  many  species  of  craft  been  turned  into  a 
lugsail,  and  this  lugsail  came  over  not  unnaturally  to 
Scotland  as  well. 

The  use  of  bowlines  to  cause  the  square-cut  sail  to 
set  better  is  one  of  the  oldest  customs  of  European 
seamanship.  This  has  been  in  vogue  in  Norway,  Hol- 
land, France,  and  England  for  many  a  long  year.  In 
England  the  bowlines  were  employed  at  any  rate  during 
the  early  Tudor  period,  and  their  origin  was  in  all  pro- 
bability due  to  the  Norse  seamen  of  the  Middle  Ages. 
The  Blankenberg  luggers — only  but  recently  obsolete 
— used  bowlines  for  the  better  set  of  their  sails  when 
on  a  wind,  just  as  we  saw  in  another  chapter  the  Dutch- 
men so  acted.     And  it  is  another  proof  of  the  close 

p 


226      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

connection  between  Norway  and  Scotland  that  until 
comparatively  recently  the  Scotch  "  skaffies  "  followed 
this  Norse  custom  also. 

Forty  years  ago  the  Loch  Fyne  skiffs  were  small 
open  craft  of  about  five-and-twenty  feet  over  all.  They 
were  undecked,  and  they  were  towed,  a  couple  at  a 
time,  by  the  smacks  to  engage  in  the  seine-net  trawling. 
The  next  step  w^as  to  be  independent  of  the  smack, 
so  instead  of  the  hands  sleeping  on  board  the  latter 
they  had  huts  on  shore.  From  that  it  came  about  that 
the  skiffs  developed  into  a  larger  size,  and  so  the  crew 
were  able  to  live  on  board.  The  bigger  type  of  skiff 
was  found  generally  more  advantageous,  and  could 
hurry  ahead  very  quickly  and  much  faster  than  the 
oared  boats  as  soon  as  a  shoal  of  fish  was  descried.  The 
smaller  examples  of  this  boat  are  still  used  for  white 
fishing. 

As  we  leave  Scotland  with  its  Norse-like  hulls  and 
its  lugs,  we  do  not  instantly  get  away  from  the  Nor- 
wegian influence.  The  coast  of  Yorkshire  is  famous  for 
its  special  breed  of  boats,  although  to  be  correct  this 
type  belongs  to  a  region  that  reaches  as  far  north  as 
Northumberland  and  as  far  south  as  Great  Yarmouth. 
The  cobble  has  been  called  the  most  peculiar  type  of 
craft  to  be  seen  anywhere  on  our  English  coasts,  but 
she  is  peculiar  only,  relatively  speaking,  just  as  the 
Viking  ship  to-day  would  be  called  curious  among 
modern  vessels.  Like  the  Scotch  fishing-boat,  and 
for  the  same  reason,  the  Yorkshire  cobble  is  of 
Norwegian  descent.  Time  has  brought  about  sundry 
modifications  as  to  detail,  which  is  inevitable ;  but  as  a 
whole  the  cobble,  even  as  seen  to-day,  is  very  Scandi- 
navian in  her  appearance.  They  are  not  the  type  of 
craft  to  suit  every  one,  for  they  have  such  special 
peculiarities  of  their  own  that  only  the  expert  can 
handle  them.  They  have  been  called  incomprehensible 
craft,  but  as  one  who  has  known  them  for  over  a 
quarter   of  a   century    and  watched  them   out   in   all 


Fig-  55- 


Old  Yarmouth  Cobble 


p.  220 


This  is  now  an  obsolete  Norfolk  type,  but  it  was  in  use  during  E.  W.  Cooke's  time.  With 
its  transom  stern  and  its  lugsail  and  bilge  keels  it  much  resembles  the  older  type  of  Yorkshire 
cobble. 


Fig.  56. 


Scarborough  Ketch 


This  is  one  of  the  vessels  engaged  in  North  Sea  line-fishing.    Like 
the  Lowestoft  drilters  she  has  no  boom  to  her  mainsail. 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     227 

weathers,  it  seems  difficult  to  realise  that  this  stigma 
should  attach  to  them. 

They  are  indeed  crotchetty  creatures  if  not  handled 
in  the  right  way,  but  their  existence  is  reasonable  if  we 
remember  firstly  their  Norwegian  ancestry,  and  secondly 
the  purposes  for  which  they  have  always  been  intended. 
They  date  back  before  the  time  when  deep  harbours 
began  to  be  made,  and  they  are  practically  a  kind  of 
whale-boat,  but  designed  specially  for  beaching.  Like 
the  ships  of  the  time  of  ancient  Greece,  they  are 
beached  stern  first,  and  for  this  reason  the  floor  runs 
aft  very  flat,  bilge-keels  being  below  that  so  as  to  keep 
them  upright  on  the  sand.  Their  greatest  draught  is 
forward,  where  the  keel  is  able  to  get  a  good  grip  on 
the  water.  The  stern  of  the  pure  type  of  cobble  is 
broad  and  square,  and  the  entrance  is  fine,  while  the 
bows  have  plenty  of  freeboard.  They  go  to  windward, 
but  when  running  free  they  are  very  erratic  and  danger- 
ous craft  except  to  the  man  who  has  been  brought  up 
in  these  boats ;  and  along  the  coast-line  of  Northumber- 
land, Durham,  and  Yorkshire  many  a  disaster  to  these 
craft  has  come  in  spite  of  the  hereditary  ability  of  their 
crew.  They  tend  to  run  along  too  fast  and  to  gripe 
very  badly  and  then  broach-to.  A  wave  then  fills  them 
up,  and  before  long  the  cliffs  of  Flamborough  look 
down  and  see  yet  another  addition  to  the  long  list  of 
cobble  casualties. 

If  she  is  out  in  bad  weather  and  seems  to  be  taking 
charge,  a  hand  is  sent  forward  to  stand  by  the  halyards 
of  the  lugsail  ready  to  lower  instantly  if  need  be.  On 
a  wind  these  craft  are  no  dull  sailers,  and  it  is  a  treat 
to  watch  them  running  along  near  the  land  in  a  nice 
off-shore  breeze.  The  rudder  of  these  boats  comes 
down  a  good  four  feet  below  the  keel,  and  herein 
north  would  seem  to  meet  south.  For  it  is  this  same 
peculiarity  of  deep  rudder  which  is  noticeable  in  the 
sailing  vessels  of  Venice  and  the  pilot  and  fishing  craft 
of  Marseilles.     The  rig  of  the  cobble  consists  of  a  lug, 


228      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

but  sometimes  a  jib  is  carried  on  a  temporary  bowsprit. 
In  effect  the  deep  rudder  acts  as  a  centreboard  aft  to 
make  up  for  the  lack  of  grip  which  only  the  forefoot 
possesses.  The  cobble  is  poled  off  from  the  beach  just 
as  was  the  custom  of  the  old  Greek  ships,  and  as  soon 
as  deep  water  has  been  reached  the  rudder  is  placed 
in  situ  and  the  sail  is  quickly  hoisted. 

The  harbours  of  Whitby,  Scarborough,  Bridlington, 
and  the  beaches  of  Filey  and  elsewhere  on  this  part  of 
the  coast  afford  plenty  of  opportunities  for  studying 
this  Norse-like  craft.  Their  lines  are  not  displeasing  to 
the  eye,  and  the  sheer  is  especially  attractive.  Clinker- 
built,  like  the  old  Norse  craft,  with  a  raking  transom- 
stern  and  a  raking  mast  on  which  a  dipping  lugsail  is 
set,  a  long  tiller  is  provided  for  the  helmsman.  The 
smaller  type  of  cobble  measures  about  28  ft.  long,  5^  ft. 
beam,  and  is  2  J  ft.  in  depth,  the  capacity  being  three 
tons ;  whilst  tlie  larger  type,  capable  of  carrying  nine 
tons,  is  just  under  34  ft.  long  by  10  ft.  wide  and  4|ft. 
deep. 

But  at  Filey  and  Scarborough  there  is  now  built  a 
slightly  different  type  of  cobble  called  a  "  mule,"  and  it 
is  this  species  which  is  here  illustrated  in  the  accompany- 
ing photograph  of  a  Yorkshire  cobble  running  into 
Scarborough  harbour  under  reefed  canvas  (Fig.  54). 
These  "  mules "  have  not  the  transom  but  a  whaler 
stern,  as  will  be  noticed,  the  reason  being  that  this 
whaler-ending  is  better  for  running  before  a  big  sea  and 
wind.  These  boats  are  rowed  not  by  means  of  the 
usual  pattern  of  oars  and  metal  rowlocks.  Instead, 
there  is  a  single  thole-pin,  and  a  kind  of  cringle  is 
attached  to  the  oar,  which  broadens  out  at  its  centre. 
The  cringle  slips  over  the  thole-pin,  and  thus  the  oars 
can  be  immediately  let  go  and  allowed  to  float  on  the 
water  without  any  fear  of  their  breaking  adrift.  The 
only  part  of  the  country  where  I  remember  to  have  seen 
these  oars  on  the  south  coast  is  in  Lulworth  Cove. 

As    to   the    now   obsolete   Yarmouth   cobble,   the 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     229 

accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  55)  after  Cooke,  done 
in  1828,  will  afford  a  good  idea,  and  show  the  kin- 
ship between  the  transom-sterned  Yorkshire  and  the 
transom- sterned  Norfolk  types.  In  the  latter,  as  in  the 
former,  the  bilge-keels  for  beach  work  are  seen  here  to 
exist.  The  rudder  came  down  several  feet  below  the 
keel,  and  the  other  features  of  the  flat  floor  aft  and  tlie 
deep  forefoot  were  also  preserved  in  the  Yarmouth 
type  as  long  as  it  lasted.  Recent  years  have  made 
many  changes  in  the  vessels  of  Great  Yarmouth,  but 
it  is  worth  noting  that  by  reason  of  its  double  proximity 
both  to  Norway  and  to  Holland  there  should  have 
continued  till  well  into  the  middle  of  the  nineteenth 
century  a  type  of  the  Scandinavian  craft  as  seen  in 
the  cobble,  and  of  the  Dutch  craft  as  seen  in  the 
beach-yawl. 

As  late  as  the  'seventies  the  rig  of  the  North  Sea 
fisherman  was  the  lug,  but,  as  we  saw  in  the  case  of 
the  yacht's  evolution,  the  tendency  of  the  fore-and- 
after  throughout  her  history  has  ever  been  to  increase 
in  size,  and  if  in  size  then  in  sail-area.  Now  there 
comes  a  point  when  the  lugsail  is  found  to  be  of  too 
great  a  measurement  to  be  handled  either  conveniently 
or  with  safety.  Therefore  the  ketch  rig  with  all  its 
handiness — its  sail-area  cut  up  so  as  to  be  capable  of 
being  managed  with  the  smallest  crew  and  with  the 
minimum  of  effort,  its  convenience  for  working  into 
narrow  harbours  and  through  narrow  channels — was 
adopted.  In  the  accompanying  photograph  (Fig.  56) 
is  seen  a  Scarborough  ketch  of  a  somewhat  old-fashioned 
type  engaged  in  line-fishing.  Like  her  the  Lowestoft 
drifter  has  no  boom  to  her  mainsail,  though  she  carries 
one  on  her  mizzen. 

It  is  a  fine  sight  to  witness  the  harbours  of  Yar- 
mouth, Lowestoft,  and  Ramsgate  when  the  fleet  of 
fishing  craft  are  in  port.  It  is  fine  to  regard  the  forest 
of  masts  representing  so  many  able  fore-and -afters  that 
can  face  almost  any  North  Sea  gale  with    pluck  and 


y 


230      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

endurance,  confident  of  riding  out  the  worst  weather 
in  a  manner  that  brings  credit  to  a  fine  breed  of  ships 
and  men.  But,  sentimentally,  it  is  sad  to  find  that  the 
steam  trawler  is  causing  these  ships  rapidly  to  become 
obsolete.  In  some  parts  of  the  coast,  notably  in  Scot- 
land and  Cornwall,  the  auxiliary  motor  is  fast  becoming 
recognised  as  the  handmaid  of  the  sail ;  yet  the  stress 
and  hurry  of  shore  life  are  having  their  effect  on  the 
fishing  trade,  and  so  on  the  ships  themselves  and  their 
means  of  propulsion.  But  Ramsgate  still  sticks  to  its 
sailing  fleet ;  its  harbour  is  not  exactly  suitable  for 
steam  fishing  vessels,  and  they  who  would  be  sorry  to 
see  such  fine  craft  as  those  which  put  to  sea  from  the 
Kentish  port  will  not  be  sorry  that  local  conditions  are 
unfavourable  to  the  mechanically  propelled  ships. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  busy 
Thames  estuary  is  the  bawley,  some  idea  of  which  is 
to  be  obtained  from  the  photographs  (Figs.  57  and  58). 
Of  these,  one  (Fig.  58)  is  a  pilot  craft,  the  other  a 
fisherman.  In  this  rig  we  come  back  again  to  find  some- 
thing of  the  Dutch  influence  still  preserved ;  for,  with 
her  gaff — but  boomless — mainsail  (which  is  shortened 
by  means  of  brails)  we  have  the  identical  principle 
which  the  second  3Iary  yacht  of  Charles  II.  possessed 
in  her  rig. 

What  especially  strike  the  eye  are  the  very  long 
bowsprit  and  gaff  which  these  bawleys  are  given.  And 
yet  they  are  both  fast  and  handy,  and  the  brailing 
arrangement  enables  them  quickly  to  get  snug  when 
bad  weather  comes  up.  For  the  seas  of  the  Thames 
estuary,  with  their  deep  hollows  and  short,  steep  waves, 
are  sometimes  as  much  as  a  small  craft  can  tolerate. 
Dodging  in  and  out  among  the  shallows  and  sand- 
banks these  craft  must  needs  be  both  handy  and  good 
sea-boats.  The  topmast  is  a  long  one,  but  as  soon  as  it 
is  housed  the  bawley  is  able,  with  her  shortened  canvas, 
to  render  a  very  good  account  of  herself.  She  can 
quickly  trice  up  her  tack,  brail  in  her  main,  set  a  small 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     231 

storm-jib,  and  she  is  ready  to  fight  her  way  through 
the  bad  weather  which  is  breaking  over  her.  Frankly, 
she  is  not  a  pretty  craft,  but  handsome  is  as  hand- 
some does.  Her  topmast  is  actually  several  feet  longer 
than  the  mast,  and  in  fine  weather  she  sets  a  topsail  of 
considerable  size.  But  whatever  her  merits  as  a  sea- 
keeping  craft,  as  a  wage-earner ;  whatever  her  defects 
may  be  as  a  sightly  craft,  she  is  to  us,  who  have  watched 
the  evolution  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig,  of  special  interest 
owing  to  her  resemblance  to  the  seventeenth-century 
rig  of  Holland.  She  wisely  does  not  yearn  for  a  sprit, 
though  in  other  respects  she  has  many  similarities  to 
the  Thames  barge.  Not  in  hull  but  in  the  style  of 
her  rig  she  is  the  one  example  of  the  cutter,  which 
is  very  like  the  sloops  that  were  seen  in  Holland  and 
England  three  hundred  years  ago. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  her  origin  may  be  traced 
directly  to  the  time  when  the  Thames  estuary  was 
accustomed  to  seeing  much  more  clumsy  craft,  yet 
with  a  rig  that  survives  to  this  day  in  the  same  waters. 
We  may  compare  these  photographs  with  the  frontis- 
piece and  the  Van  der  Velde  sketches  of  this  book,  and 
we  shall  find  that  though  in  the  modern  craft  the 
bowsprit  is  not  steeved  as  it  was,  and  that  the  square 
topsail  has  disappeared,  yet  otherwise  the  principle  is 
the  same.  That  this  seventeenth-century  rig  should 
in  the  twentieth  century  be  still  found  satisfactory, 
and  so  little  modified  as  in  these  bawleys,  is  proof 
enough  of  the  high  rank  of  perfection  to  which  the 
Dutch  shipman  of  yesterday  should  have  attained.  He, 
indeed,  was  living  at  a  time  when  invention  was  neither 
as  rapid  nor  as  easy  as  to-day.  And  yet  when  put  face 
to  face  with  similar  problems  as  confront  our  modern 
shipmen,  he  was  able  to  evolve  a  very  satisfactory  and 
useful  solution. 

And  whilst  we  are  in  the  Thames  estuary  and  are 
speaking  of  Holland,  let  us  not  forget  to  mention  the 
Thames  barge,  to  whose  characteristics  we  have  been 


232      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

compelled  to  allude  on  several  occasions  above.  It 
was  because  the  set  of  conditions  that  obtained  in  the 
Dutch  waterways  was  in  many  respects  reproduced 
over  here  in  the  Thames  and  Medway  that  a  similarity 
of  rig,  modified  for  local  peculiarities,  should  also  be 
adopted.  Consider  for  a  moment  what  these  conditions 
are.  The  Dutch  cargo-carrier  had  to  be  not  too  big  to 
be  able  to  pass  into  the  locks.  She  had  to  be  sufficiently 
handy  to  work  short  tacks,  and  she  could  not  draw 
much  water.  But  since  wind  against  tide  in  the  Maas 
and  the  Scheldt  quickly  raise  a  nasty  sea,  these  vessels 
had  to  be  fit  for  something  more  than  mere  smooth- 
water  sailing.  In  order  to  render  them  capable  of 
being  worked  by  a  small  crew,  and  to  facilitate  shorten- 
ing canvas  immediately,  some  system  had  to  be  em- 
ployed that  would  not  ruin  her  speed  too  much.  Thus, 
to  satisfy  all  these  requirements,  the  Dutch  created  a 
big-bellied,  round,  shallow  craft,  with  staysail  and  sprit- 
mainsail,  with  leeboards,  with  adequate  freeboard,  with 
decks,  with  brails,  and  so  on. 

The  Dutchman  was  given  a  flat  floor  so  that  she 
could  take  the  ground.  The  Thames  barge  is  flat  for 
the  same  reason — so  that  she  may  be  able  at  high  water 
to  get  right  alongside  the  wharf  and,  when  the  tide 
ebbs,  she  may  be  able  to  sit  upright  and  load  or  dis- 
charge her  cargo.  The  barge  also  must  be  both  handy 
and  seaworthy :  she  must  be  able  to  turn  to  windward 
in  narrow,  and  nowadays  exceedingly  crowded,  reaches. 
And  she  must  be  able  to  go  through  the  amount  of 
sea-work  for  which  she  is  intended.  The  Scheldt  and 
the  Thames  have  much  in  common  in  so  far  as  the 
conditions  of  sailing  are  concerned,  and  a  good,  strong, 
weatherly  type  of  ship  is  essential  for  either  waters. 
Therefore,  it  is  not  surprising  that  a  similar  rig  and 
the  employment  of  those  Dutch  leeboards  should  have 
been  chosen.  The  vangs  to  prevent  the  peak  from 
sagging  too  far  to  leeward,  and  even  some  of  those 
crude  but  pleasing  colour  contrasts  are  also  preserved, 


IN    GREAT    BRITAIN    AND   AMERICA     233 

as,  for  instance,  where  the  tackle  comes  down  from  the 
throat  to  support  the  sprit. 

But  there  are  certain  quahties  of  the  Thames  barge 
which  do  not  belong  to  the  Dutch  prototype.  The 
former  is  more  angular  than  her  chubby  sister,  and  she 
sets  a  small  mizzen  to  assist  her  steering.  And  the 
Thames  skipper  is  glad  to  have  this  sprit  rig,  for  the 
reason  that  it  gives  him  a  clear  space  on  his  deck  and 
hatches  when  brought  up.  His  cargo  can  be  dis- 
charged or  stowed  without  any  impediment.  There  is 
no  gaff  or  boom  to  get  in  the  way,  and  he  can  even 
rig  up  at  the  end  of  his  peak  a  big  pulley-wheel  to 
aid  in  hauling  out  the  contents  of  his  hold.  She  has 
all  her  canvas  tanned  with  the  exception  of  her  jib  stay- 
sail, which  her  skipper  calls  a  "  spinnaker."  It  is  only 
when  he  is  in  a  bad  sea,  as  we  stated  in  an  earlier 
chapter,  that  the  barge's  sprit,  with  its  heavy  weight 
swinging  from  side  to  side,  causes  the  crew  grave 
anxiety.  Otherwise  for  estuary  work  in  fine  weather 
and  river  sailing  there  is  no  more  suitable  kind  of 
craft  or  rig.  The  average  size  of  the  Medway  barge 
is  40  tons  (registered),  length  78  ft.,  beam  17  ft., 
draught  6  ft.  She  is  an  adept  at  "  ditch-crawling " 
and  tide-cheating,  and  her  high  topsail  enables  her 
to  catch  the  breeze  as  it  filters  through  between  the 
high  wharves  and  chimney-pots  on  either  bank  ;  but 
her  full  sail-area  is  about  400  square  yards.  At  the 
back  of  your  mind  you  may  despise  the  Thames  barges, 
but  when  once  you  have  turned  to  windward  in  their 
company  you  begin  to  have  a  respect  for  them  no  less 
than  for  their  skippers.  The  Dutch  fore-and-aft 
sailor-men  who  are  wont  to  visit  the  Thames  have  an 
undisguised  admiration  for  these  our  craft  and  seamen, 
and  that  tribute  from  a  nation  of  such  thorough  sea- 
men is  worth  having.  There  are  roughly  three  types 
of  the  Thames  barge,  one  of  which  is  intended  solely 
for  her  work  on  the  Thames,  the  Medway,  and  such 
short  trips  as  northwards  to  Yarmouth  and  Harwich, 


234      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

and  southwards  to  Ramsgate  and  Pegwell  Bay.  This 
is  the  type  of  barge  which  carries  a  topsail  that  is  still 
evidence  of  the  days  that  are  gone.  It  is  not  a  jack- 
yarder  nor  a  square  topsail,  but  somewhere  between 
the  two — another  of  the  numerous  British  com- 
promises. 

The  second  type  of  Thames  barge  is  the  stumpy, 
which  carries  no  topsail,  has  a  short  pole  mast,  has 
no  bowsprit  nor  jib.  But  the  third  type  is  a  larger 
development  of  the  first,  a  craft  that  is  capable  of 
doing  quite  long  coasting  voyages  down  Channel, 
across  to  France  and  the  Low  Countries,  northwards 
to  the  Wash,  and  so  on.  In  them  the  diminutive 
mizzen  which  one  sees  on  the  vessels  that  come 
swinging  down  with  the  tide  under  London  Bridge 
has  become  of  considerable  size,  so  that  the  rig  is 
practically  ketch,  and  the  mizzen  is  as  important  to 
the  barge  as  to  the  fishing-smack.  The  type  of  hull 
in  these  sea-going  craft  is  also  a  bolder  and  more 
powerful  type  than  that  of  the  Medway  class.  It  is 
wonderful  what  weather  they  will  stand — up  to  a 
certain  point.  When  once  that  point  is  transgressed 
there  is  trouble.  It  is  not  so  very  long  since  two 
of  these  bigger  barges  actually  sailed  on  their  own 
bottoms  across  the  Atlantic  from  England  to  South 
America,  but  about  the  same  time  also  two  others 
foundered  in  a  winter's  gale  ofFNewhaven. 

We  can  see  by  comparison  of  the  drawings  of 
Cooke  and  others  how  much  the  modern  type  of 
Thames  barge  has  improved  during  the  last  hundred 
years.  The  lines  of  the  "  stumpy  "  of  that  time  were 
practically  those  of  the  modern  dumb  barge  which  one 
sees  being  rowed  down  with  the  tide  through  the 
bridges  of  the  metropolis.  The  cut-away  bow  and 
the  stern  with  its  deadwood  are  very  similar  to  the 
barges  of  to-day,  except  that  in  those  days  they  were 
of  wood  and  not  of  steel.  Some  of  the  sailing  barges, 
according  to  Cooke,  were  cutter-rigged,  with  gaff  and 


IN    GREAT    BRITAIN    AND    AMERICA     235 

loose-footed  mainsail,  staysail,  and  sometimes  a  jib  set 
on  a  bowsprit  capable  of  being  triced  up,  the  aforesaid 
bowsprit  being  steeved  at  a  considerable  angle  as  in  the 
old  Revenue  cutters.  The  topsail  was  quadrilateral, 
the  head  being  laced  to  a  very  short  yard.  They  had 
no  mizzen  whatever,  and  their  hulls  were  also  very 
similar  to  those  of  the  old  stumpies.  These  w^ere 
known  as  sloop-rigged  barges  (Fig.  59),  but  nowadays 
since  the  little  mizzen  is  so  useful  in  assisting  the 
steering,  the  sloop-rig  is  not  found  in  the  barge  class 
of  vessels. 

Sometimes  the  yawl-rigged  barges  of  a  hundred 
years  ago  are  shown  with  two  square-sails  additional 
to  the  ordinary  rig.  That  is  to  say,  they  would  carry 
a  jib  on  the  bowsprit,  a  staysail,  a  spritsail,  and  the 
tiny  mizzen ;  but  for  running  free  a  large  square-sail 
with  sheets  as  wxll  as  braces  was  set,  and  above  this 
also  a  square  topsail  as  well  as  a  fore-and-aft  topsail 
set  over  the  spritsail  and  laced  to  the  topmast.  Cooke 
shows  (Fig.  60)  just  such  a  vessel  and  just  such  a  rig 
as  this  in  Northfleet  Reach,  the  only  minute  difference 
being  that  as  the  wind  is  so  free  the  bowsprit  has  been 
triced  up  and  the  jib  stowed,  but  the  other  sails  are  all 
set  as  mentioned. 

We  have  to  pass  down  half  the  length  of  the 
English  Channel  before  we  come  to  the  western  type 
of  the  barge.  Portsmouth  has  in  its  time  seen  practi- 
cally every  kind  of  vessel  that  has  been  afloat.  It  has 
seen  the  \^iking  ships  of  the  Norsemen  as  well  as  even 
the  Mediterranean  galleys  in  the  time  of  Henry  VIII. ; 
and  w^e  could  go  through  time  enumerating  a  plethora 
of  other  classes  which  have  been  floating  in  the  w^aters 
of  Spithead.  Eut  the  Portsmouth  type  of  barge  such 
as  trades  up  and  down  Spithead,  the  Solent,  and 
Southampton  Water,  Chichester  and  Langstone  and 
Bembridge  harbours — fetching  gravel  from  the  Shingles 
oft'  Hurst  Point  to  help  to  build  breakwaters  or  the  like, 
and  carrying  cargo  between  Portsmouth  and  South- 


236      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

ampton — is  a  somewhat  inferior  species  of  that  class 
which  the  Thames  has  evolved  owing  to  the  influence 
of  Holland  and  the  peculiarity  of  the  London  river 
and  Medway. 

But  there  is  another  type  of  two-master  which  is 
familiar  to  all  who  cruise  along  between  the  Isle  of 
AVight  and  the  mainland.  She  is  becoming  obsolete 
in  these  days  of  steam  and  motor  cargo-carriers,  but 
she  is  not  quite  extinct.  I  refer  to  those  tubby  black- 
hulled  vessels  to  be  seen  in  Cowes  and  Southampton 
and  other  ports  of  this  district.  They  are  a  kind  of 
south-country  type  of  the  billy-boy,  and  with  their 
rails  running  around  the  deck  are  reminiscent  both 
of  the  Humber  "keels"  and  the  Mersey  lighters.  In 
the  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  61)  Cooke  shows 
one  of  these  Solent  vessels  coming  out  of  Cowes 
harbour. 

The  origin  of  the  Deal  lugger  I  am  inclined  to 
attribute  to  the  close  proximity  of  this  coast  to 
Belgium  and  France.  More  strictly  speaking  this 
applies  to  the  rig  rather  than  the  hull,  for  the  latter 
is  really  the  outcome  of  certain  essentials  demanded 
by  the  peculiar  nature  of  the  work  which  they  are 
called  upon  to  undertake.  She  must  be  able  to  sail 
well  and  be  fairly  light  to  row.  She  must  be  suitable 
for  hauling  up  the  beach,  for  running  out  to  the 
Goodwins  in  all  sorts  of  weather,  or  for  bringing  off 
pilots  from  outward-bound  steamships.  The  story  of 
the  Deal  luggers  would  alone  furnish  one  of  the  most 
interesting  and  exciting  of  true  romances  ever  written, 
and  it  is  remarkable  the  amount  of  weather  these  small 
craft  can  endure.  It  is,  indeed,  owing  partly  to  the 
nature  of  the  little  ships  themselves,  but  it  is  still 
more  due  to  the  human  element — the  skilful  handling 
of  an  exceptionally  skilful  breed  of  seafaring  men. 

In  olden  times — that  is  to  say,  in  the  eighteenth 
century — these  Deal  "  cutters,"  as  they  were  then 
known,  were  rigged  with  three  spritsails,  the  mizzen 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     237 

having  a  bumpkin,  whilst  a  jib  was  set  forward.  But 
for  the  sprits,  therefore,  these  craft  were  somewhat 
like  the  small  fishing-boats  of  the  French  coast,  which 
were  afterwards  to  develop  into  the  larger  chasse- 
marees.  Nowadays  this  type  has  disappeared,  and 
the  demand  is  for  a  smaller  and  handier  type  that 
goes  "  hovelling "  anywhere  between  Dungeness  and 
the  Forelands. 

Pilots  tell  you  that  it  is  wonderful  how  much  sea 
these  craft  will  go  through,  manned  by  a  crew  of  two 
or  perhaps  three  "knock-toes"  (so  called  because  of 
the  well-known  habit  of  these  men  of  standing,  hands 
in  pockets,  knocking  their  feet  against  the  boat  on 
the  shore  while  they  yarn  and  gaze  out  seawards), 
but  with  the  strong  tides  in  the  vicinity  of  the 
Goodwins  and  the  ferocious  seas  which  can  get  up 
here  in  no  very  long  space  of  time  it  may  be  hours 
before  the  galley  has  covered  the  distance  between 
the  liner  and  the  shore,  and  the  pilot  has  at  last 
been  enabled  to  land.  The  remuneration  for  this 
service  is  certainly  not  bad,  and  the  occasional  salvage 
work  which  the  Goodwins  bring  them  and  the  atten- 
tion, which  weather-bound  sailing-ships  brought  up 
in  the  Downs  sometimes  need,  enable  the  Deal  men 
to  keep  going. 

These  craft  are  of  two  kinds.  Firstly  there  is  the 
larger  lugger  with  two  masts  and  lugs,  and  secondly 
there  is  the  smaller  galley-punt,  in  length  somewhere 
between  twenty  and  thirty  feet.  The  lug  is  very 
square-headed,  they  seldom  reef  unless  the  weather 
is  exceptionally  bad,  and  they  sail  remarkably  close 
to  the  wind.  Long,  deep,  and  narrow,  the  bigger  class 
is  rivalled  only  by  the  shorter,  heavier,  and  beamier 
galley-punt.  There  is  another  type  of  galley  to  be 
seen  across  the  water,  in  Flushing,  where  the  Dutch 
and  Belgian  pilots  are  stationed  and  keep  continual 
watch  from  their  two  club-houses  side  by  side.  This 
Dutch  galley  is  very  similar  to  the  Deal  class,  and 


238      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

we  shall  speak  of  her  when  we  come  to  discuss  the 
fore-and-aft  rig  abroad. 

We  pass  on  now  to  discuss  the  west  country  and 
its  characteristic  fore-and-aft  ships.  We  run  across 
West  Bay  after  rounding  the  Bill  of  Portland,  and 
look  into  the  little  fishing  harbour  of  Brixham,  just 
inside  Berry  Head,  and  here  we  find  none  of  the  steam 
trawlers  of  the  North  Sea  ports,  but  an  entire  fleet 
of  sailing  vessels.  In  the  evolution  of  the  fishing 
craft  and  of  trawling  gear  the  port  of  Brixham 
occupies  a  most  important  place.  It  has  raised  up 
a  hardy  race  of  seamen  from  the  time  of  the  Tudors 
and  earlier  to  the  present  day.  And  its  vessels  are 
like  its  men — hardy,  sturdy,  strong,  and  made  to 
wrestle  with  the  sea.  I  have  met  them  out  at  sea, 
studied  them  in  port,  watched  them  at  their  work 
by  night,  seen  them  thrashing  to  windward  down- 
Channel  in  a  hard  blow,  and  stealthily  doing  a  little 
poaching  where  the  high  cliffs  of  Devon  and  the  lack 
of  moon  assisted  them. 

There  are  two  types  of  the  Brixham  fishing  craft — 
one  small  and  the  other  large.  Of  these  the  smaller 
ones  are  called  "  mumble-bees "  and  are  rigged  as 
cutters.  They  measure  about  half  the  size  of  the 
other  type.  The  larger  size  are  ketch-rigged  like 
their  North  Sea  sisters,  and  measure  about  70  ft.  in 
length  over  all,  and  are  of  about  60  tons.  Worked  by 
a  crew  of  four,  the  ketch  carries  900  sq.  ft.  of 
sail,  has  a  beam  of  18  ft.,  drawing  10  ft.  of  water 
aft  and  9  ft.  forward.  With  the  long,  straight  keel 
and  straight  stem,  these  are  wonderful  craft  for  reach- 
ing. The  forefoot  is  scarcely  cut  away.  They  are 
heavily  and  massively  constructed,  and  so  they  carry 
a  great  deal  of  way  on  them  and  are  remarkably 
powerful,  sea-keeping  vessels.  The  characteristic  of 
these  west-country  trawlers  is  the  very  large  staysail, 
which  immediately  strikes  the  sailing-man  who  has 
come  round  from  the  east  coast.      Their  masts  rake 


Pm^'r 


Fig-.  60., 


Old  Thames  Barge  with  Squaresails 


P,  235 


Nowadays  the  barges  of  the  Melway  and  Thames  do  not  set  any  squaresails  when  running, 
but  one  may  see  them  sometimes  bring  their  jib  topsail  (which  they  call  a  spinnaker)  aft  and 
set  it  like  a  racing  yacht's  spinnaker. 


m^' 


Fig.  61 


Cowes  Ketch 

This  shows  a  South  Coast  counterpart  of  the  Yorkshire  Billy-boy.     (After  E.  W.  Cooke.) 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     239 

forward,  not  aft,  and  they  are  very  fond  of  setting 
their  topsails  even  over  double-reefed  mainsail,  as  the 
men  say  that  the  topsail  steadies  the  gaff  in  a  seaway. 
Historically  it  is  the  Rrixham  men  who  have  in- 
fluenced Ramsgate,  and  so  Yarmouth  and  Lowestoft, 
to  use  the  ketch-rigged  fishing  vessels. 

Although  before  the  time  of  the  Norman  Conquest 
the  men  of  Kent  were  engaged  in  the  herring-fisheries, 
yet  the  men  of  Devon,  especially  of  Brixham,  Dart- 
mouth, and  Plymouth,  have  always  been  distinguished 
sons  of  the  sea.  It  has  even  been  said  that  Brixham 
was  the  first  port  in  this  country  which  ever  developed 
the  fore-and-aft  rig.  Possibly  there  were  here  in  the 
sixteenth  century  some  such  craft  as  that  shown  in  the 
map  of  Master  Robert  Thorne  alluded  to  and  illus- 
trated in  one  of  our  earlier  chapters. 

Torbay  and  the  proximity  of  the  English  Channel 
were  more  conducive  to  an  acquisition  of  the  arts  of 
sailing  than  the  strong  tidal  waters  of  Kent  dotted 
with  innumerable  shoals  and  sand-banks.  Con- 
sequently a  great  school  of  seamen  grew  up  in  Devon- 
shire, who  married  into  each  others'  families  and 
voyaged,  fought,  and  fished  together.  Nephews  and 
sons  were  taken  out  across  the  Atlantic  to  fish  off  the 
Grand  Banks,  even  in  mid-Tudor  times,  by  their 
uncles  and  fathers.  But  for  this  keen  Devonshire 
race  of  seafaring  men,  trained  by  their  life  as  fisher- 
men, there  would  have  been  no  Drake,  nor  a  good 
many  other  illustrious  sailors  who  saved  England  and 
enabled  her  to  retain  her  independence  and  liberty. 
They  are  still  a  conservative  people,  and  in  spite  of 
the  advantages  which  the  motor  has  been  demon- 
strated to  possess,  they  have  decided  to  have  none 
of  it  and  to  hold  to  the  type  of  sailing  fore-and-after 
which  has  earned  them  their  living  for  so  long  a  time. 
But  the  fishing  industry  is  not  what  it  used  to  be, 
even  though  nowadays  they  have  to  cruise  further 
ahead   and    go   round    the    land    beyond    the    Bristol 


240      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

Channel  and  the  Welsh  coast.  But  it  will  be  a  pity 
if  for  any  circumstance  Brixham  should  ever  lose  its 
fine  fleet,  and  still  more  if  it  should  cease  to  rear  such 
exceptional  seafaring  men. 

As  we  proceed  further  westward  we  come  to  the 
Plymouth  hookers,  where  the  old  Dutch  word  is  still 
retained,  and  some  slight  Dutch  resemblance  in  their 
sail.  That  is  to  say  these  cutters,  whilst  they  have 
not  the  brailing  arrangement  of  the  Thames  bawley, 
have  the  boomless  mainsail  and  the  long  gaff  which 
we  spoke  of  above.  The  sheet  is  attached  to  the 
clew  by  means  of  a  long  hook  which  cannot  shake  out 
of  the  sail  by  any  amount  of  flapping. 

Naturally,  the  absence  of  a  spar  along  the  foot  of 
the  sail  detracts  from  the  latter  when  the  vessel  is 
sailing  on  a  wind,  but  any  one  who  has  had  to  endure 
the  threshing  about  of  a  boomed-sail  in  the  Channel 
will  sometimes  have  felt  inclined  to  envy  those 
Plymouth  hookers.  It  is  quite  a  vertical  cut  which  is 
given  to  the  leach,  so  that  the  general  impression  is  of 
a  high,  narrow  sail — the  very  reverse  of  the  shape  of 
the  modern  Dutch  craft  with  their  short  gaffs,  and  the 
sail  broadening  out  the  nearer  it  approaches  the  foot. 
Far  west  though  Plymouth  is,  yet  nevertheless  the 
hooker  has  some  historical  connection  with  Holland,  as 
its  name  and  sail  imply.  And  this  is  all  the  more  sur- 
prising, because  the  other  craft  of  the  neighbourhood, 
both  in  Devon  and  Cornwall,  show  no  such  intimate 
connection  with  the  Low  Countries. 

Cornwall,  like  Scotland,  is  the  country  of  the 
lugger,  but  there  is  a  difference  of  types.  The 
Cornish  craft  is,  owing  to  the  geographical  proximity 
of  her  county,  more  akin  to  the  French  type  of  lugger 
than  is  the  North  British  fisherman.  We  spoke  just 
now  of  the  Scotch  zulu,  which  was  really  a  com- 
promise between  the  Fifie  and  the  Buckie  boats.  The 
latter  was  a  flat-floored  craft  and  sailed  exceedingly 
well.       Her   sternpost   raked  aft    a    good  deal.      But 


Fig.  62. 


Cornish  Fishing  Craft 


p.  241 


This  shows  a  West  Country  craft  which  has  discarded  her 
characteristic  lugs  for  the  rig  of  the  ketch. 


Fig.  63.  P. 

Reefing  Gear  of  Bristol  Channel  Pilot  Craft 

The  set  of  cogs  will  be  seen  in  the  foreground  on  the  boom,  and  by  means  of  worm 
gear  and  handle  the  boom  is  revolved  and  the  mainsail  reefed. 


m 


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k 


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<^  ^  t-> 

<f;  '^  ^O 

U  a!,  'i 

U  w  . 

W  H  ^S" 

Q  ^  ,/! 


<  o 
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O  3-1 
H 

<: 
a 
o 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA    241 

the  Cornishman  draws  more  water  aft  than  the  zulu, 
and  she  carries  a  larger  mizzen  than  her  northern 
sister,  over  which  she  sometimes  sets  a  topsail.  They 
have  easy  lines,  these  west-country  craft,  and  high 
bulwarks,  together  with  an  exceedingly  long  outrigger 
aft  for  the  mizzen,  and  this  spar  comes  up  at  an 
exceptionally  high  angle,  being  steeved  somewhat  after 
the  manner  of  the  old-fashioned  bowsprits.  These 
Cornish  luggers  have  both  speed  and  seaworthiness, 
and  their  mizzen-mast  has  more  hoist  than  the 
Scotchman.  Occasionally  they  set  a  bowsprit  and 
jib. 

There  are  few  more  beautiful  sights  than  to  watch  a 
fleet  of  these  vessels  putting  to  sea  just  before  sun- 
set, from  Mevagissey  or  some  other  Cornish  port,  and 
though  they  have  the  drawback  of  their  lug-rig  in 
having  to  dip  the  sail  at  each  tack,  yet  on  a  wind  they 
have  a  speed  that  is  surprisingly  fast.  Some  idea  of 
their  speed  may  be  gathered  from  the  achievement  of  a 
trio  of  Penzance  drifters,  named  respectively  the  Nellie 
Jane,  the  Emblem,  and  the  Children  s  Friend.  These 
on  one  occasion  a  couple  of  years  ago  sailed  in  company 
from  INIount's  Bay  up  the  whole  length  of  the  English 
Channel,  round  past  the  Essex  coast,  up  northwards  as 
far  as  Scarborough.  They  were  becalmed  at  the  outset 
in  Mount's  Bay  for  some  time,  and  when  off  the  York- 
shire coast  in  a  heavy  squall  they  were  compelled  to 
lower  sail  altogether,  but  otherwise  they  scarcely  had 
need  to  touch  tack  or  sheet  the  whole  trip.  But,  even 
including  this,  the  long  run  from  one  end  of  England  to 
the  other  was  accomplished  under  three  days,  the  actual 
time  being  seventy  hours. 

Nowadays  one  sometimes  finds  these  west-country 
luggers  have  their  rig  altered  to  a  ketch,  and  in  the 
accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  62)  such  a  craft  is  seen. 
But  they  tell  you  that  this  transformation  is  not  alto- 
gether a  success,  and  that  these  vessels  which  are  de- 
signed for  a  couple  of  lugs  are  better  so  sailed.   The  size 

Q 


242      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

of  the  Penzance  luggers  is  usually  about  27  tons,  with  a 
beam  of  13|  ft.  and  a  draught  of  7  ft. 

And  now  let  us  run  round  the  land  to  Bristol 
Channel,  the  home  of  some  of  the  finest  fore-and- 
afters  in  the  world,  in  the  shape  of  the  Bristol  Channel 
pilot-cutters.  For  three  things  collectively  these  craft 
are  probably  unrivalled  by  the  vessels  of  any  country  or 
indeed  any  port.  These  three  qualities  may  be  summed 
up  under  the  heads  of  speed,  seaworthiness,  and  handi- 
ness,  and  for  these  reasons  this  type  of  pilot- cutter 
makes  one  of  the  soundest  models  for  the  modern 
yachtsman  to  aim  at  if  he  desires  a  good  ship  of  mode- 
rate dimensions.  I  have  watched  these  splendid  craft 
being  manoeuvred  in  a  crowded  harbour  with  the  ease 
almost  of  a  small  rater.  And  yet  they  are  designed 
so  as  to  be  able  to  encounter  any  amount  of  bad 
weather. 

The  Bristol  Channel  itself  is  notorious  for  the  alarm- 
ing strength  of  its  tide ;  and  with  a  south-west  wind 
against  this  there  rises  a  sea  that  may  well  strike  terror 
into  many  small  craft.  But  these  yacht-like  vessels 
have  to  go  out  for  many  a  mile  to  pick  up  their  job, 
round  Land's  End,  perhaps  half-way  up  the  English 
Channel.  There  may  be  three  men  on  board  the 
cutter,  perhaps  only  two  sometimes.  One  of  them  gets 
the  dinghy  overboard  as  they  come  abreast  of  the  big 
steel-liner,  and  rows  off  to  the  latter.  As  he  climbs  up 
into  the  great  steamship  he  kicks  off  the  little  dinghy, 
the  steamship's  telegraph  clangs  down  in  the  engine- 
room,  and  her  engines  begin  to  move  again.  Then 
when  she  has  gone,  the  pilot-cutter  sails  down,  heaves- 
to,  and  hoists  the  dinghy  on  board  again.  Then — all 
single-handed  the  while — the  one  man  sails  his  ship  back 
day  and  night  home. 

We  may  well  admire  both  the  craft  and  her  crew 
able  to  do  these  manoeuvres  so  well.  But  of  course  the 
cutter  is  supplied  with  the  best  possible  devices  to  in- 
crease her  handiness  and  save  labour,  and  it  is  these 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     243 

features  which  make  her  so  extremely  interesting.  In 
the  accompanying  illustrations  will  be  found  ample 
opportunity  of  examining  some  of  these.  We  shall 
deal  with  her  lines  presently,  but  for  the  moment  let 
us  just  notice  her  reefing-gear,  which  is  used  for  the 
mainsail.  This  is  the  arrangement  which  is  in  general 
use  among  the  Bristol  Channel  pilot-cutters.    As  will 


Fig.  65. — Bristol  Channel  Pilot-Cutter, 

This  shows  two  of  the  smaller  type  of  these  craft.    Notice  that  they  have 

no  bobstays. 


be  seen  from  the  accompanying  photograph  (Fig.  63), 
taken  on  one  of  these  vessels,  there  is  at  the  forward 
end  of  the  boom  a  set  of  cogs.  Either  below  or  above 
these,  according  to  choice,  there  is  fitted  into  them  a 
worm-gear  that  is  revolved  by  means  of  a  handle  which 
can  be  unshipped  when  not  in  use.  The  worm  works  in 
the  cogs,  and  thus  turns  the  boom  round,  and  so  causes 


244     THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

the  sail  to  roll  round  the  boom  after  the  manner  of  the 
domestic  window-blind.  There  is  obtained  a  very  con- 
siderable power,  and  the  action  is  immediate ;  conse- 
quently the  cutter  can  hang  on  to  all  her  sail  in  a  hard 
blow,  and  only  reef  when  absolutely  compelled  so 
to  do. 

But  it  is  essential  that  the  boom  should  not  project 
further  aft  than  the  end  of  the  counter,  and  the  pilots 
tell  you  that  since  this  reefing-gear  was  introduced  more 
booms  have  been  broken  than  formerly,  for  the  reason 
that  the  greatest  strain  occurs  in  the  centre  of  this  spar. 
But  in  spite  of  this  the  arrangement  is  both  excellent 
and  popular,  and  a  great  saving  of  time  and  trouble  as 
compared  with  the  old-fashioned  method  of  reefing.  I 
have  heard  so  much  praise  from  actual  users — men  who 
were  inclined  to  be  prejudiced  against  it — that  it  is 
impossible  to  think  too  highly  of  it.  Another  excellent 
practice  which  these  men  have  is  to  place  two  bands 
instead  of  one  around  the  mast,  though  the  smaller 
gears,  which  are  made  of  gun-metal,  fit  into  an  ordinary 
goose-neck  and  have  but  one  mast-band. 

For  further  facility  in  reefing  when  single-handed, 
the  peak-halyard  leads  aft ;  and,  as  will  be  seen  in  this 
photograph,  the  sheets  of  the  head-sails  lead  in  through 
the  coaming  of  the  cockpit.  The  shape  of  the  latter,  by 
the  way,  as  here  seen,  is  very  characteristic  of  these 
craft.  These  cutters  carry  no  davits,  but  they  make 
short  work  of  getting  the  dinghy  on  board.  This  is 
done  as  follows  :  The  lee-runner  is  unhitched  and  hooked 
on  to  lines  in  the  dinghy,  and  then  the  crew  hoist  away 
on  the  runner.  The  result  is  that  the  boat  comes  up 
with  her  bow  and  stern  on  the  same  plane.  She  is  then 
stowed  on  deck,  special  chocks  being  laid  down  for  the 
reception  of  her  keel,  and  in  the  photograph  one  of  these 
can  be  noticed  at  the  bottom  right-hand  corner.  The 
mast  is  stepped  nearly  amidships,  so  that  she  sets  a 
good-sized  staysail,  and  a  smaller  jib  on  a  bowsprit  of 
moderate  length. 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND  AMERICA     245 

As  to  the  size  of  these  splendid  cutters,  they  vary 
from  34  ft.  length  over  all  to  56  ft.,  the  beam  varying 
from  11  ft.  to  14  ft.,  and  the  draught  from  7  ft.  to  8  ft. 
The  newer  types  have  the  forefoot  curved  to  a  greater 
extent  than  the  others,  which  have  straight  bows.  The 
elliptical  counters  of  the  more  modern  class  are  ideal 
for  sea-work,  and  the  pilots  find  them  less  likely  to  get 
damaged  against  the  side  of  the  liner  in  those  instances 
when  the  dinghy  is  not  launched  and  the  cutter  lands 
her  pilot  direct.  But  the  older  type  have  square  sterns. 
As  I  write  I  have  before  me  the  dimensions  of  the  pilot- 
cutter  G-race,  whose  details,  taken  from  an  auctioneer's 
advertisement,  are  thus :  length  over  all,  50  ft.  3  in.  ; 
length  on  water-line,  43  ft. ;  beam,  13  ft.  6  in. ;  draught, 
8  ft.  6  in.  Like  most  of  this  breed  she  has  a  flush  deck. 
Her  rigging  is  of  steel  wire,  and  she  has  the  patent 
reefing-gear  already  described.  She  has  two  anchors, 
about  55  fathoms  of  cable,  punt,  "  and  all  necessary 
fittings  appertaining  to  a  pilot-cutter." 

For  the  halyards  there  are  purchases,  and  in  reefing 
all  that  one  has  to  do  is  to  slack  off  the  purchase  with 
one  hand,  after  having  taken  in  the  slack  of  the  topping- 
lift,  and  then  turn  the  handle  of  the  reefing-gear.  And 
it  makes  no  difference  whether  the  ship  is  running,  or 
on  the  wind  on  either  tack,  the  reefing  operation  being 
perfectly  easy  and  simple.  So  easily  does  the  gear  work 
that  it  is  no  extraordinary  thing  for  the  helmsman, 
while  his  mate  is  enjoying  his  w^atch  below,  to  run 
forward  in  bad  weather  and  get  in  the  bowsprit,  reef 
the  staysail,  and  roll  down  the  mainsail  till  it  is  a  mere 
handkerchief;  and  all  this  in  the  space  of  but  a  few 
minutes.  It  is  not  even  necessary  to  disturb  the  other 
man  below.  The  cockpits  are  small  and  watertight, 
and  there  is  a  leather  flap  which  covers  the  discharge 
outlet  of  the  pipe. 

The  motion  of  the  ship  through  the  water  keeps  this 
flap  pressed  against  the  side  of  the  hull,  and  so  prevents 
any  water  running  up.     From  the  cockpit  one  steps 


246      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

into  a  compartment  where  the  sails  and  "  oilies  "  are 
stowed,  the  dimensions  of  this  space  being  about  6  to 
10  ft.  long.  The  saloon  has  either  two  or  four  bunks 
according  to  size,  with  a  coal  stove  in  the  middle,  and 
on  some  cutters  there  is  a  sleeping  cabin  forward  of  this, 
with  the  pantry  and  store  in  the  alleyway.  The  cook- 
ing is  done  in  the  large  forecastle. 

It  is  a  strenuous  life,  and  there  is  keen  competition 
between  these  craft,  but  those  which  are  fitted  with, 
auxiliary  motors  have  them  sealed,  and  they  are,  by 
mutual  agreement,  not  used  when  the  different  cutters 
sight  their  liner  in  the  distance  and  set  all  sail  to  be  the 
first  to  get  up  to  her.  Nine  months  out  of  the  twelve 
these  men  are  afloat,  but  the  pay  is  good,  for  the  pilot 
is  worthy  of  his  hire.  These  vessels,  in  addition  to 
their  virtues  of  speed,  handiness,  and  seaworthiness, 
have  also  the  quality  of  being  able  to  heave-to  "  like 
ducks,"  as  it  has  been  said.  Forward,  the  hulls  of  these 
splendid  cutters  have  fine  high  shoulders,  and  they  have 
a  good  sheer. 

It  is  asserted  that,  as  indicative  of  the  excellent  sea- 
keeping  qualities  of  these  cutters,  whilst  many  of  them 
have  been  run  down,  yet  not  one  of  them  has  been 
known  to  founder  owing  to  bad  weather  merely.  In 
ordinary  weather  they  carry  a  small  jib,  the  foresail 
being  as  stated  a  large  one ;  but  when  it  comes  on  to 
blow,  the  jib  is  stowed  and  the  large  foresail  does  the 
work.  Very  interesting  and  thoroughly  sound  is  the 
Bristol  Channel  pilot's  idea  as  to  ballast.  He  does 
not  want  a  ship  that  is  a  brute  for  rolling  :  when  he  is 
alongside  some  gigantic  liner  at  night  in  the  swell  of 
the  Atlantic,  he  does  not  want  his  brave  little  craft  to 
kick  herself  about  more  than  need  be.  So,  additional 
to  the  ballast  on  the  keel  outside  he  believes  very 
strongly  in  placing  inside  ballast  to  steady  her.  It  is 
piled  up  almost  to  the  water-line,  and  though  the  cutter 
may  pitch  somewhat,  yet  she  will  be  very  steady  with 
a  nice  easy  roll.     As  an  instance  of  how  steady  these 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     247 

craft  are,  one  authority  recently  asserted  that  a  pilot 
told  him  that  when  hove-to  in  half  a  gale  off  I.undy, 
the  match-box  on  a  polished  table  in  the  cabin  had 
never  moved. 

In  order  to  minimise  the  shock  of  a  gybe  these 
cutters  are  sometimes  fitted  with  special  buffers  for 
the  mainsheet,  and  made  either  of  rubber  or  of  a  steel 
spiral  spring.  Although  there  is  plenty  of  individuality 
about  the  different  pilot-cutters  of  this  part  of  the 
world,  yet  they  all  have  a  common  likeness  in  respect 
of  the  handiness  of  the  rig,  the  ballasting,  the  ample 
beam,  and  so  on.  So  general  has  the  patent  reefing 
apparatus  become  that  about  three-quarters  of  the  fleet 
now  possess  this  device.  These  vessels  have  three 
shrouds  on  either  side,  and  some  of  them  have  no  run- 
ners. Bobstays  are  not  universal,  and  one  often  finds 
them  discarded,  for  the  jib  is  small  and  the  spar  may 
have  to  be  run  in  before  long.  We  spoke  just  now  of 
the  inside  ballast,  but  whilst  all  have  quantities  of  this, 
yet  there  are  some  which  have  no  external  ballast  at 
all.  It  is  rare  to  provide  these  cutters  with  skylights, 
for  some  of  the  seas  off  the  Longships  would  burst 
through  in  a  short  time,  so  the  usual  practice  is  to  insert 
decklights. 

The  shapes  of  these  vessels'  hulls  differ  a  good  deal, 
some  being  very  fine  forward  and  full  aft,  others  being 
very  full  forward  and  fine  aft,  and  a  few  have  over- 
hanging bows.  Some,  again,  have  rather  barrel-shaped 
hulls,  whilst  others  also  have  a  good  deal  of  hollow.  I 
once  came  across  the  Alpha,  which  with  a  couple  of 
other  Bristol  Channel  cutters  put  into  Dartmouth. 
This  is  admittedly  one  of  the  crack  ships  of  the  class. 
Although  she  has  a  straight  stem  she  is  well  cut-away 
at  her  forefoot.  She  has  turned  out  to  be  just  what 
she  looks — a  fine,  able  sea-boat.  I  am  able,  through 
the  courtesy  of  ^Ir.  Harold  Clayton,  the  well-known 
Penarth  designer,  to  include  here  the  design  and  lines 
of  the  Barry  pilot-cutter  Faith  (Figs.  64,  66,  and  67). 


f-^ 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY     249 

It  should  be  explained  that  she  is  not  quite  in 
consonance  with  the  general  type  of  these  pilot-cutters, 
although  possessing  many  of  their  features.  Mr  Clay- 
ton says  that  she  was  the  first  of  these  craft  ever  built 
to  paper  drawings  only,  and  the  one  boat  which  has  an 


Fig.  67. — Sail-Plan  op  Beistol  Channel  Pilot-Cutter  "Faith." 
(See  Figs.  64  and  6G.) 


owner's  cabin.  Mr.  Clayton  also  asserts  that  the  Faith 
has  proved  herself  to  be  very  fast  both  in  light  weather 
and  in  heavy,  being  a  fine,  able  sea-boat  in  a  gale  of 
wind.  The  sail-plan  (Fig.  G7)  shows  the  character- 
istic large   staysail   and   the  comparatively  small  jib. 


250      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

The  mainsheet  goes  straight  down  from  the  boom,  and 
the  latter  is  seen  to  be  plumb  with  the  tafFrail  of  the 
counter.  The  forefoot  is  very  much  more  cut-away 
than  is  usual,  and  it  would  not  be  every  pilot  that 
would  agree  to  approve  of  this  modification.  The 
accommodation  and  the  construction  plans  are  well 
worthy  of  study,  and  will  explain  themselves. 

I  feel  that  I  scarcely  need  apologise  to  the  reader 
for  having  taken  up  so  much  of  his  time  to  consider 
this  west-country  type  of  cutter,  for  it  is  a  type  which, 
in  spite  of  its  varieties  of  species,  is  so  healthy  and 
instructive  that  it  is  well  deserving  of  being  copied. 
Those  of  us  who  have  owned  or  cruised  in  yachts 
modelled  on  the  general  features  which  are  possessed 
by  these  Bristol  cutters  admit  that  they  make  ideal 
cruisers.  But  from  the  Bristol  Channel  we  may  now 
pass  round  Land's  End  again  and  run  up  the  English 
Channel  to  have  a  look  at  another  type  of  pilot  craft, 
very  interesting  but  totally  different  from  those  which 
we  have  just  been  considering.  I  wish  to  call  attention 
to  the  auxiliary  motor  pilot-ketches  Solent  and  the 
St.  Helen's,  which  may  have  been  noticed  by  those 
whose  cruising  ground  usually  includes  the  neighbour- 
hood of  the  Isle  of  Wight. 

These  vessels  are  only  about  eighteen  months  old, 
and  were  built  at  Leith  to  the  order  of  the  Trinity 
House  for  use  in  the  English  Channel.  The  first 
remark  that  rises  to  one's  lips  on  seeing  them  is  that 
they  are  fine,  weatherly  craft,  and  able  to  endure  as 
much  wind  and  sea  as  even  the  Channel  in  its  worst 
mood  may  feel  inclined  to  put  up.  They  stand  as  the 
most  modern  type  of  sea-keeping  craft,  built  not  for 
speed  but  for  weatherliness.  Constructed  of  steel, 
and  considerably  in  excess  of  Lloyd's  yacht  rules, 
100  Al  class,  under  the  society's  special  survey,  they 
have  a  length  of  68  ft.  over  all,  59  ft.  on  the  load 
water-line,  18  ft.  beam,  and  11^  ft.  moulded  depth. 
Rigged  as  ketches  they  carry  a  good  stretch  of  canvas, 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     251 

with  jib  and  foresail  for  headsails,  and  a  short  bowsprit. 
The  stem  is  straight,  but  the  forefoot  is  moderately 
cut-away  immediately  below  where  the  bobstay  shackle 
is  affixed. 

The  accommodation  below  is  very  roomy  and  com- 
fortable. There  is  a  large  forecastle  for  a  crew  of  four, 
fitted  with  table,  lockers,  and  bunks,  aft  of  which  is  a 
pantry  on  one  side  and  a  lavatory  on  the  other.  Aft 
again  of  this  are  the  pilot's  quarters,  and  there  is  a 
division  by  means  of  a  watertight  bulkhead.  This 
large  saloon  is  well-lighted,  the  bunks  being,  of  course, 
on  either  side,  the  rest  of  the  contents  consisting  of 
table,  sofas,  stove,  and  bookcase.  Entrance  is  given 
to  this  saloon  by  means  of  a  teak  ladder,  whilst  on 
deck  the  amount  of  room  is  very  great.  Abaft  of  the 
saloon  comes  the  engine-room,  being  divided  off  by 
means  of  a  steel  bulkhead  from  the  living  accommoda- 
tion. The  engine  has  two  cylinders  with  reverse  gear, 
and  is  started  by  means  of  compressed  air,  and  this 
latter  is  also  used  for  blowing  the  ship's  siren. 
Paraffin  is  used  for  fuel,  and  under  power  alone  these 
pilot-ketches  have  obtained  a  speed  of  seven  knots. 

The  machinery  is  controlled  from  the  engine-room, 
and  thus  a  telegraph  communicates  from  the  steering- 
wheel  aft.  Such  a  type  as  this  would  afford  an  excel- 
lent model  for  any  one  desiring  a  ketch-rigged  yacht 
that  would  face  any  weather  that  one  would  have  the 
heart  to  let  her  look  at.  These  craft  have  a  nice  sheer, 
and  the  high  bows  and  their  plentiful  freeboard 
generally  enable  them  to  be  dry  ships  in  a  seaway. 
They  cruise  about  under  canvas  alone,  but  when  they 
espy  their  steamship  in  the  distance  they  lower  away 
and  run  up  under  motor-power.  With  the  right  kind 
of  amateur  crew  and  given  fair  average  weather  it 
would  be  difficult  to  conceive  of  anything  more 
delightful  than  an  extended  cruise  in  southern  seas 
with  such  a  ship  under  one  as  this. 

And  whilst  we  are  speaking  of  motors  as  applied 


252      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

to  fore-and-afters,  we  might  mention  that  this  new 
development  has  been  the  means  of  enlarging  the 
earning  power  of  the  ships  which  have  received  this 
installation.  We  could  give  a  number  of  instances, 
but  we  may  content  ourselves  with  remarking  first  the 
case  of  a  comparatively  small  vessel,  and  secondly  one 
of  much  greater  tonnage.  The  former  refers  to  the 
Gladys,  a  sailing  barge.  During  the  construction  of 
the  great  lock  at  Portsmouth  dockyard  tons  of  shingle 
were  required  that  had  to  be  brought  from  Langstone 
harbour  just  to  the  eastward.  This  transportation 
was  carried  on  by  means  of  barges  remunerated  at  so 
much  per  load.  Although  the  actual  distance  is  quite 
small,  as  the  crow  flies,  yet  the  strong  tides  had  to  be 
studied  and  worked. 

In  the  case  of  light  airs  it  was  not  easy  for  the 
barge  to  make  one  trip  every  day.  But  in  the  Gladys 
there  was  installed  a  5 -horse-power  engine  which 
enabled  her  to  perform  not  one  daily  trip  but  three, 
regardless  of  almost  all  conditions.  That  meant  that 
her  earning  power  was  trebled,  although  the  initial  cost 
of  the  engine  was  moderate  and  the  upkeep  infinitesimal. 
Perhaps  the  time  may  come  when  the  London  river 
will  see  the  Med  way  barges  coming  up  over  the  tide 
with  the  motor  plugging  them  along.  It  is  not  alto- 
gether improbable ;  but  what  a  contrast  between  the 
things  of  to-day  and  the  old  Dutch  influence  of 
yesterday ! 

The  second  instance  has  reference  to  the  three- 
masted  twin-screw  auxiliary  schooner  Saevareid.  She 
is  a  vessel  of  112  ft.  long,  25  ft.  beam,  and  11  ft. 
depth.  She  is  ovraied  in  Norway,  but  was  built  in 
Denmark.  Her  engine  is  of  30  horse-power,  and  is 
installed  right  aft  immediately  below  the  oflficers' 
cabin,  the  tonnage  of  the  ship  working  out  at  about 
300  tons.  She  was  built  for  trading  between  the 
United  Kingdom  and  Norway.  With  her  sail-power 
she  is  able  and  efficient,  but  with  her  twin-screws  she  is 


Fig-    68. 


"Britannia" 


This  royal  fore-and-after,  designed  by  G.  L.  Watson  for  His  late  Majesty  King 
Edward  VII,  when  Prince  of  Wales,  is  perhaps  the  finest  racing  cutter  which  was 
ever  built.  The  illustration  was  taken  in  the  Medina  when  she  was  being  fitted 
out  at  Cowes  for  her  second  season. 


Fig.  69. 


"  Maud" 


This  ketch-rigged  yacht  is  one  of  the  best  known  examples  of  the  attempts  to 
obtain  the  ideal  cruiser. 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     253 

both  economical  and  has  greater  efficiency.  In  addition 
to  her  main  engines  she  has  a  useful  little  4  horse- 
power motor  for  driving  the  anchor  windlass,  cargo 
winches,  and  bilge  pumps. 

Although  we  are  not  writing  a  history  of  motor 
craft,  yet  I  have  deemed  it  worth  while  to  quote  these, 
instances  as  being  typical  of  the  way  in  which  the 
motor  is  affecting  the  fore-and-aft  sailing-ship.  Where 
regular  rather  than  great  speed  is  required,  where 
economy  with  greater  efficiency  and  independence  are 
desired,  the  combination  of  motor  and  sail  power  brings 
about  an  ideal  state  of  things.  There  is  no  such  neces- 
sity as  having  to  keep  steam  up  and  bank  fires.  Waste 
is  altogether  eliminated  because  the  motor  is  only 
employed  when  actually  required.  It  is  thus  that  the 
motor  and  the  sails  are  in  the  position  of  mutual  friends, 
and  instead  of  the  former's  advent  altogether  driving 
the  latter  out  of  existence,  it  has  caused  the  sailing-ship 
to  take  a  new  lease  of  life,  to  the  satisfaction  of  all  who 
retain  any  affection  or  sentiment  for  one  of  the  oldest 
institutions  of  the  world. 

And  now  that  we  have  seen  something  of  the 
modern  development  of  the  fore-and-afters  engaged  in 
fishing,  trading,  and  pilotage,  let  us  go  back  and  take 
up  the  threads  where  we  left  them  in  the  last  chapter. 
We  can  proceed  to  observe  the  lines  on  which  the  fore- 
and-aft  yachts  have  developed  during  the  last  twenty 
years,  a  period  that  has  produced  some  most  interesting 
pleasure  vessels,  not  merely  for  racing  but  for  cruising, 
not  exclusively  for  the  wealthy  sportsman  but  for  the 
man  of  moderate  means. 

The  most  notable  racing  vessel  of  the  last  fifty  years, 
and  perhaps  the  finest  all-round  cutter  that  was  ever 
launched,  is  the  JBritanina,  which  was  built  for  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  his  late  Majesty  King  Edward  VII. 
(see  Fig.  68).  She  was  one  of  those  wonderful  racing 
craft  which  flourished  so  exceedingly  during  the  'nineties, 
and  included  in  their  list  such  famous  vessels  as  the 


254      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

Valkyiie  I.,  the  Satanita,  the  American  Herreshoff- 
designed  Navahoe,  the  American  Vigilant,  and  many 
another.  But  even  in  such  distinguished  company  the 
Bi'itannia  was  herself  distinguished.  She  showed  her- 
self not  only  to  be  beautiful  to  the  eye,  but  a  consistent 
and  reliable  craft,  with  considerable  speed  possibilities. 
Handled  to  perfection  as  she  was  by  the  late  Captain 
Carter,  brilliantly  as  she  fought  her  way  in  some  really 
strenuous  contests  both  at  home  and  abroad,  she  is 
to-day  perfectly  strong  and  unstrained.  Unlike  the 
52-footers  and  many  other  racing  yachts  which  exhibit 
to-day  the  undoubted  signs  of  serious  strains,  the 
Uritannia  still  remains  a  good  sound  ship.  Designed 
by  the  late  Mr.  G.  L.  Watson  and  built  by  Hendersons, 
she  was  from  the  first  a  vessel  of  distinction. 

Her  first  appearance  was  made  in  1893,  and  she 
stood  for  the  finest  combination  of  British  skill  in 
design  and  construction  as  to  hull,  and  equally  so  in 
regard  to  the  cut  of  her  sails.  Her  dimensions  are : 
length  over  all,  121 '5  ft. ;  length  on  water-line,  87"8  ft. ; 
beam,  23*66  ft. ;  depth,  15  ft.  According  to  the 
rating  of  the  Yacht  Racing  Association,  she  worked 
out  at  151*13  tons.  Her  sail-area  was  no  less  than 
10,328  square  feet.  She  did  so  well  in  the  waters  of 
the  United  Kingdom  and  the  Mediterranean  that  every 
one  must  regret  she  had  no  opportunity  of  crossing  the 
Atlantic  and  trying  her  powers  against  some  of  the 
America  Cup  defenders.  However,  in  England  she 
beat  the  American  Navahoe  thrice  out  of  five  starts, 
and  the  Vigilant  twelve  times  out  of  eighteen  starts,  and 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  Vigilant  had  beaten 
Valkyrie  in  American  waters  for  the  America  Cup. 

But  the  Britannia  was  not  built  to  any  classification 
rule.  She  represented  Watson's  idea  for  an  ideal  racing- 
cutter  of  great  size.  JNIost  readers  will  remember  to 
have  seen  her  in  her  prime,  and  to  have  noted  the 
singular  beauty  of  her  lines.  The  amount  of  overhang 
at  bow  and  stern  is  tremendous :  well  over  thirty  odd 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     255 

feet,  or  as  long  as  many  a  smaller  yacht  measures  over 
all. 

As  one  looks  at  her  one  sees  summed  up  all  the 
lessons  of  the  past  and  the  present.  In  essentials  there 
is  the  teaching  which  Holland  gave  forth  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  the  cutter  (or,  as  they  would  have  termed  it, 
the  sloepe)  rig.  But  additional  to  that  must  be  recog- 
nised in  her  all  the  experiences  of  nearly  two  and  a  half 
centuries,  all  the  increased  science  of  the  designer  on 
the  one  hand  and  the  better  workmanship  of  the  builder 
on  the  other. 

In  actual  length  the  Britannia  is  about  double  that 
of  the  second  Mai^if  of  our  frontispiece,  though  the 
Britannia,  without  iDcing  any  the  less  worthy  a  sea- 
craft,  is  only  an  odd  couple  of  feet  beamier  than  the 
seventeenth-century  English-built  yacht.  But  the 
modern  vessel  will  be  noticed  to  be  nearly  twice  as 
deep  as  Charles  the  Second's  pleasure-craft.  And  as 
to  the  comparative  merits  of  speed,  it  would  be  almost 
ridiculous  to  question.  For  Britannia,  whilst  sacrificing 
nothing  that  would  make  her  a  better  sea- boat,  has 
eliminated  everything,  both  in  design  and  construction, 
that  would  in  any  way  detract  from  her  being  a  grey- 
hound of  the  sea. 

It  was  the  influence  of  such  handsome  craft  as  the 
Qiieen  Mab,  forty-rater,  that  is  to  be  recognised  in  the 
evolution  of  the  Britannia,  the  Valkyiie  II.,  Satanita^ 
and  so  on.  The  latter  was  also  launched  in  the  year 
1893.  She  had  rather  more  on  the  water-line  than 
Britannia  by  about  ten  feet,  and  her  beam  was  about 
another  foot  greater  than  in  the  case  of  the  royal  yacht. 
Nevertheless  the  Satanitd's  sail-area  was  slightly  less. 
The  exact  dimensions  of  this  vessel  were :  sail-area, 
9923  sq.  ft. ;  length  on  water-line,  97*7  ft.  ;  extreme 
beam,  24*7  ft. ;  draught,  16*5  ft.  These  modern 
craft  of  the  'nineties  had  discarded  the  fiddle  or 
clipper  stem  which  had  been  so  popular  about  the 
year  1887,  and  instead  there  had  come  into  being  the 


256      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

spoon-like,  overhanging  bow  as  shown  in  such  yachts 
as  Britannia  and  Satanita.  This  newer  type  was  also 
given  a  deeper  keel  which  was  destined  practically  to 
become  a  fin. 

Instead  of  the  old  idea  of  having  a  vessel  that 
hammered  and  plunged  the  waves,  instead  of  even 
*' clipping"  or  cleaving  them,  the  newest  type  of  all 
skimmed  over  the  sea  and  left  it  as  clean  as  possible 
with  the  smallest  amount  of  fuss  and  friction.  Thanks 
to  the  fact  that  yacht  designing  and  building  had 
become  an  exact  science,  the  racing  yacht  was  a  model 
of  seaworthiness,  of  speed,  of  weatherliness  and  handi- 
ness,  having  regard  always  to  the  great  size,  Britannia 
has  spent  some  years  in  retirement,  though  during 
this  present  year  (1911)  she  was  fitted  out  again  not 
as  a  racer  but  as  a  cruiser  on  which  the  sons  of  King 
George  might  be  able  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  practical 
fore-and-aft  seamanship.  For  greater  safety  her  eight- 
inch  bulwarks  were  raised  very  considerably,  and  her 
old  racing  spars  were  also  replaced  by  some  of  more 
moderate  dimensions.  Possibly  we  shall  never  see  the 
Britannia  race  again,  but  she  has  done  magnificently, 
and  between  the  time  when  she  first  hoisted  her  racing 
flag  up  to  the  end  of  the  season  of  1897  she  had  won 
122  firsts  out  of  219  starts,  and  prizes  amounting  to 
just  under  £10,000.  Her  fame  will  go  down  to 
posterity  along  with  the  two  Marys,  the  Alai^m,  and 
other  fine  ships  of  the  fore-and-aft  rig. 

The  spoon-shaped  bow  had  now  become  a  definite 
fashion  for  racing  craft,  and  as  it  was  in  the  bigger 
yachts  so  it  was  in  the  small  fry:  the  straight  stem 
and  the  later  fiddle-bow  had  gone.  Every  one  remem- 
bers that  the  type  of  the  small  racing  yacht  now  became 
a  shm-hulled  vessel  with  a  fin  that  ended  in  a  cigar- 
shaped  keel,  the  latter  being  of  lead.  To  a  certain 
extent  this  example  was  followed  in  fast  cruisers.  But 
one  great  disadvantage  resulting  from  this  method  of 
ballasting  a  craft  is  that  in  a  seaway  she  has  the  motion 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     257 

of  a  pendulum  with  the  weight  at  the  very  lowest 
possible  point.  Many  modern  cruisers  therefore  nowa- 
days prefer  to  effect  a  compromise  by  having  part  of 
the  weight  outside  with  part  internal  ballast,  so  as  to 
produce  a  steadier  and  less  lively  craft. 

But  in  the  small  classes  of  racing  craft  the  era 
became  known  as  that  of  the  "  skimming  dishes,"  as 
they  were  nicknamed.  It  was  the  exact  reaction  from 
the  time  when  vessels  of  great  displacement  were  driven 
through  instead  of  over  the  water.  To  thwart  this 
tendency  of  building  mere  racing  machines  the  Yacht 
Racing  Association  introduced  a  new  rule  at  the  be- 
ginning of  1896,  and  this  was  supplemented  five  years 
later.  But  the  tendency  to  exaggerate  the  overhanging 
bow  still  continued.  In  small  craft  this  was  not  of 
great  concern,  but  in  the  case  of  the  big  classes  the 
reader  can  readily  imagine  that  this  continual  pounding 
of  the  "  spoon "  against  even  a  moderate  sea  when 
turning  to  windward  in  a  breeze  caused  severe  strains 
to  the  ship. 

But  in  the  year  1908  an  entirely  new  departure  was 
made  in  the  history  of  yachting,  for  in  that  year  came 
into  force  an  international  rule  for  the  measurement 
and  rating  of  racing  craft.  This  was  agreed  to  by  all 
the  nations  of  Europe,  but  not  by  the  United  States  of 
America.  The  object  which  measurement  rules  have 
had  in  view  has  been — according  to  the  existing  know- 
ledge of  the  time — the  evolution  of  an  ideal  craft. 
Previous  years  had  seen  various  extremes  at  different 
dates.  There  had  been  the  revulsion  from  big  dis- 
placement craft  towards  the  plank-on-edge.  There 
had  been  the  exaggerated  fin-and-bulb  type  and  the 
excessive  overhangs.  But  now  there  was  to  be  the 
death-knell  of  the  racing  machine,  for  it  was  resolved 
that  she  should  aim  at  being  both  a  ship  as  well  as  a 
racer.  She  was  to  make  a  good  cruiser  on  which  her 
owner,  his  friends,  and  crew  could  live  in  comfort,  but 
she  was  also  to  be  strong  and  fast.    Whether  this  inter- 

R 


258      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

national  ideal  has  been  attained  by  the  yachts  which 
have  been  built  under  this  rule  is  a  matter  of  dispute. 
Inasmuch  as  a  compromise  can  never  be  altogether 
satisfactory,  so  it  is  natural  that  this  case  should 
present  difficulties. 

But  it  may  be  said  that  the  object  aimed  at — the 
creating  of  a  ship  rather  than  a  racing  machine 
built  merely  as  a  '*  pothunter " — was  in  itself  sound 
enough.  By  this  rule  the  light  scantling  was 
abolished,  and  all  yachts  had  to  be  built  under 
survey,  the  authority  for  our  own  country  being 
Lloyd's,  that  for  Germany  being  the  Germanischere 
Lloyd,  that  for  France  the  Bureau  Veritas.  But 
prior  to  this  there  had  been  evolved  in  such  craft  as 
the  first  White  Heather,  built  by  Fife  in  1904,  and 
in  the  Nyria,  built  by  Camper  &  Nicholson  in  1906, 
a  type  of  cruiser-racer  which  became  the  forerunner 
of  the  new  order  of  things.  To-day  Shamrock  IV., 
White  Heather  II.,  and  many  other  fine  craft  show 
the  outcome  of  the  international  rule.  These  latter 
belong  to  the  23-metre  class,  and  their  duels  have 
produced  some  of  the  best  competitions  in  the  annals 
of  yacht  racing.  But  the  present  year  has  seen  the 
introduction  of  the  19-metre  class,  in  addition  to 
which  there  are  the  smaller  types  of  vessels  included 
under  the  15-metres,  6-metres,  and  so  on. 

It  is  only  but  characteristic  of  Britain  that  although 
she  was  not  the  first  to  introduce  either  the  fore-and- 
aft  rig  or  its  later  development  the  yacht,  yet  she 
has  certainly  done  more  for  the  sport  than  any 
other  country.  The  influence  of  our  nationality  on 
Germany,  France,  Belgium,  Spain,  and  even  Holland 
is  undeniable.  The  well-known  admiration  of  the 
German  Emperor  for  the  achievements  of  our  country- 
men on  the  sea,  whether  of  the  navy,  the  mercantile 
marine,  or  the  yachting  organisations,  has  expressed 
itself  in  no  form  more  striking  than  in  the  impetus 
which   has  been   given   to   German   water-sport.      It 


IN    GREAT   BRITAIN    AND   AMERICA     259 

was  in  the  'eighties  that  this  British  influence  was 
first  deeply  felt,  and  Kiel  has  much  for  which  to 
thank  our  country.  Later  on  the  Germans  also 
began  to  assimilate  ideas  learned  from  the  United 
States,  but  none  the  less  the  British  influence  was 
not  by  any  means  dead. 

Nowadays  tlie  Germans  are  able  to  design,  build, 
and  race  their  own  yachts  without  British  aid,  though 
it  was  not  always  thus.  They  have  recently  shown 
themselves  able  to  produce  well-cut  sails  for  their 
racing  craft.  The  sensation  which  the  German 
schooner  Germania  made  in  the  summer  of  1908, 
when  she  broke  the  record  for  the  Queen's  course 
in  the  waters  of  the  Isle  of  Wight,  has  not  been 
forgotten,  her  average  speed  for  the  whole  course 
being  over  thirteen  knots.  Had  it  not  been,  we 
may  pertinently  suggest,  for  such  designers  as  Fife 
in  Britain,  HerreshofF  in  America,  for  such  sail- 
makers  as  Ratsey  and  Lapthorne  of  Britain,  and  for 
what  had  been  learned  from  German-employed  British 
racing  crews,  it  is  pretty  certain  that  German  yachting 
would  not  have  advanced  either  so  rapidly  or  with 
such  signal  success. 

We  spoke  some  time  back  of  the  influence  in 
America  of  the  pilot  and  fishing  schooners,  and  went 
on  to  show  how  this  rig  was  adopted  for  the  famous 
yacht  America.  The  American  yachtsmen  have  shown 
themselves  much  attached  to  the  schooner-rig  and  to 
the  centre-board  sloop,  or  cutter  as  we  should  call  her 
in  this  country.  (The  word  sloop  has  been  retained 
in  the  former  country,  owing  its  ancestry  straight 
back  to  the  time  of  the  Dutch  colonists,  whereas  in 
England  the  influence  of  the  Revenue-cutters  on  yacht- 
ing caused  the  retention  of  the  word  cutter  instead  of 
sloop.)  We  might  date  American  yachting  from  the 
time  when  the  little  Dutch  sloops  were  wont  to  sail 
about  the  harbour  of  New  Amsterdam,  but  as  an 
organised    sport    it    is    not    as    old    as    in    our    own 


260      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

country.  It  is  only  from  the  year  1844  that  the 
New  York  Yacht  Club  dates,  but  it  is  really  after 
the  year  1851  that  American  yachting  began  in  any 
way  to  flourish.  The  line  of  separation  between  the 
past  and  the  present  is  formed  by  the  famous  Avieiica. 
Because  she  had  done  so  wonderfully  in  English  waters, 
and  because  she  was  also  a  schooner,  so  the  Americans 
from  the  early  'fifties  began  both  to  enthuse  over  yachts 
as  a  whole  and  over  schooners  in  particular.  It  was  but 
natural,  also,  that  the  American  pilot  and  fishing  craft 
should  continue  to  be  the  models  for  the  new  enthusiasts. 

But  because  of  the  nature  of  the  eastern  coast  of 
the  United  States,  our  cousins  have  shown  a  great 
liking  for  the  centre-board  even  in  the  biggest  yachts, 
schooners  no  less  than  in  sloops.  This  is  the  exact 
opposite  of  British  ideas.  About  the  time  when  the 
plank-on-edge  craze  was  at  its  summit  in  England 
the  Americans  chose  a  beamier  type  of  craft,  and 
because  they  wanted  a  shallow-draught  boat  they 
employed  the  centre-board  in  contradistinction  to 
our  narrow,  deep -keeled  craft  of  that  time ;  but 
during  the  'eighties  they  began  to  modify  the  lines 
of  their  yachts  so  that  they  actually  approximated 
more  to  the  contemporary  British  yachts. 

The  efforts  to  win  back  the  America  Cup  have 
also  acted  as  a  great  inducement  to  American  yachting, 
and  one  has  only  to  name  such  famous  craft  as  the 
Defeiider  and  Columbia  and  V^igilant  of  the  'nineties, 
and  the  Constitution  and  Reliance  of  the  present 
century,  to  call  to  mind  the  finest  racing  sloops  of 
the  United  States.  But  the  excessive  amount  of  sail- 
area  and  the  exceedingly  light  scantlings  which  these 
American  racing  craft  possess  make  them  indeed 
marvellous  racing  machines  for  their  own  waters  in 
fine,  fair  weather,  though  strictly  speaking  they  are 
not  sea  yachts.  As  an  instance  of  the  degree  to 
which  an  idea  may  be  pushed,  let  us  call  attention 
to   the   accompanying   illustration  of  the   Outlook  in 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     261 

Fig.  71.  This  shows  a  model  of  a  very  much  smaller 
craft — a  mere  small-rater  in  fact — but  it  well  illustrates 
the  tendency  towards  the  attainment  of  a  fast  boat 
in  light  weather.  The  Outlook  is  not  a  ship  in  any 
sense  of  the  word ;  she  is  a  very  clever  and  ingenious 
racing  machine  for  skimming  along  the  water,  with 
the  minimum  of  displacement  and  a  deep  rudder  and 
centre-board.  She  has  neither  strength  nor  beauty, 
and  speed  is  her  only  justification  for  existence. 

Among  the  small  craft  the  Americans  have  shown 
themselves  also  fond  of  the  cat-boat  type  of  craft. 
In  the  sketch  (Fig.  73)  this  type  of  boat  is  here 
represented.  Such  a  specimen  would  measure  about 
26  ft.  over  all,  10  ft.  beam,  and  wath  3  ft. 
draught.  In  this  cat-boat  type  we  have  a  clear 
descendant  of  the  Dutch  influence,  with  no  jib,  but 
the  mast  stepped  right  in  the  eyes  of  the  boat.  In 
England  we  can  see  her  counterpart  in  the  Una-rigged 
craft,  but  historically  she  is  related  to  the  Norfolk 
wherry  (by  reason  of  her  connection  with  Holland), 
and  she  must  also  justly  lay  claim  to  being  related  to 
that  type  of  vessel,  with  one  sail  and  mast  but  no 
headsail,  that  we  saw  in  existence  in  the  sixteenth 
century.  To-day,  as  we  shall  see  in  the  following 
chapter,  the  inland  waters  of  Holland  still  preserve 
the  Dutch  equivalent,  or  rather  prototype,  of  this 
cat-boat  craft.  Because  of  their  well-known  bad 
proclivities  when  running  before  a  moderate  breeze 
this  rig  is  not  popular  in  England  ;  and  even  when  it 
is  proposed  to  give  a  small  open  boat  a  simple  rig,  the 
balance  lugsail  is  infinitely  preferred  in  our  country. 
It  should  be  added  that  even  in  America,  where  the 
cat-boat  prospers  most,  there  is  a  decided  tendency  to 
modify  it  by  the  addition  of  a  jib  and  bowsprit,  so  as 
to  make  her  a  sloop.  But  for  all  that  the  mast 
remains  in  the  same  position  as  before — just  as  far 
forward  as  it  is  possible  to  have  it  placed.  For  land- 
locked waters  these  craft  have  certain  advantages,  but 


Fig.  73.— American  Cat-Boat. 

The  mast  is  stepped  yery  far  forward  as  in  the  Dutch-American  sloops 
of  the  seventeenth  century. 


THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY      263 

there  are  not  many  who  would  call  the  rig  suitable  for 
actual  sea- work. 

Recently  in  England  the  15-metre  cutters  have 
practically  superseded  the  52-footers,  except  in  handi- 
cap racing ;  but  in  America  a  somewhat  similar  class 
to  these,  though  larger,  was  found  in  the  70-footers, 
which  have  been  the  most  popular  large  yachts,  within 
recent  times,  of  the  New  York  Yacht  Club.  In 
America  the  same  difficulty  which  has  confronted 
ourselves  in  regard  to  finding  a  suitable  rule  for  the 
measurement  and  rating  of  yachts  has  also  existed. 
The  problem  has  been,  as  with  us,  to  find  some  satis- 
factory method  for  the  prevention  of  an  exaggerated, 
unhealthy  type.  It  is  a  matter  for  regret  that 
America  did  not  see  her  way  to  joining  the  other 
yachting  nations  in  agreeing  to  the  international 
rule,  but  last  year  (1910)  HerreshofF,  the  greatest 
naval  architect  across  the  Atlantic,  designed  the 
schooner  Westward  specially  to  compete  with  the 
yachts  built  under  the  international  rules,  and  she 
sailed  on  her  own  bottom  across  to  the  Solent  last 
summer.  She  raced  with  consummate  success,  and 
showed  herself  to  be  the  finest  schooner  ever  built. 
The  accompanying  sketch  (Fig.  74)  shows  her  with 
topsails,  all  lower  canvas,  and  spinnaker  set,  as  she 
was  seen  cruising  one  day  last  July  in  the  Solent. 

Westwai^d  is  practically  the  modern  America  in 
regard  to  the  sensational  success  which  she  won  for 
herself  at  Cowes  in  1910.  She  was  designed  and 
built  for  the  one  purpose  of  sailing  as  fast  as  the 
wind  would  send  her.  To  that  end  everything  else, 
so  far  as  possible,  was  sacrificed,  but  on  the  Atlantic 
she  showed  herself  to  be  a  good  sea-boat.  She  was 
spoken  of  as  a  racing  machine,  but  it  is  hardly  fair 
so  to  speak  of  a  vessel  with  such  sea-keeping  qualities. 
In  the  great  race  on  August  1,  1910,  with  the  German 
schooner  G-ermania  as  scratch  boat,  and  the  German 
Emperor's  schooner  Meteor  also  scratch,  the  Westward 


264      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

won  handsomely,  the  British  cutter  Shamrock  IV. 
being  second,  followed  by  the  Germania  and  Meteor 
in  the  order  named. 

But  not  all  the  representatives  of  the  fore-and- 
aft  rig  either  in  Great  Britain  or  America  are  traders, 
fisher-craft,   pilots,    or   racing   yachts.      There  is   that 


Fig.  74.— "Westward." 

This  American  schooner  was  the  sensation  of  the  yacht-racing  season  of  1910, 
when,  like  her  predecessor  the  famous  Ar/ierica,  she  showed  herself  to  be  the 
finest  schooner  afloat. 


not  inconsiderable  class  to  be  reckoned  which  in- 
cludes the  cruisers,  and  about  these  we  propose  now 
to  say  something.  It  is  undeniable  that  for  a  time 
the  cruiser,  after  she  had  been  for  so  long  a  period 
designed  on  the  lines  of  the  king's  cutters,  was  in- 
fluenced by  the  racing  yacht.  To  an  extent  this  is 
so   to-day ;     but    there    is    not    that    wild    fanaticism 


IN   GREAT    BRITAIN    AND   AMERICA     265 

which  fails  to  draw  a  separating  line  between  the 
requirements  of  the  one  and  the  other.  Speed  is 
absolutely  the  first  essential  in  the  racing  yacht ;  in 
the  cruiser  it  is  merely  highly  desirable. 

The  first  virtues  which  the  cruiser  should  possess 
are  comfort,  the  ability  to  keep  the  sea  in  most 
weathers,  handiness  for  entering  harbours  or  navigat- 
ing narrow  channels,  simplicity  of  gear,  requiring  the 
fewest  possible  hands  to  work  her ;  and  then,  when 
these  qualities  have  been  obtained,  the  best  turn  of 
speed  that  her  designer  and  builder  can  endow  her 
with.  She  is  intended  to  win  for  her  owner  not 
fame  but  pleasure — the  two  things  are  not  necessarily 
the  same — and  she  is  to  be  a  ship  before  she  is  a 
greyhound.  To  this  end  the  owner  may  choose  a 
vessel  of  any  rig  or  any  tonnage.  With  those  few 
but  fine  ship-  or  barque-rigged  craft  such  as  one  meets 
with  occasionally  in  different  ports  and  in  different 
seas  we  have  no  need  here  to  speak.  Of  the  medium- 
sized  cruisers,  the  topsail  schooner  was  at  one  time  a 
favourite  rig,  though  the  fore-and-aft  schooner  and 
the  yawl  are  now  more  common.  For  some  un- 
explained reason  the  ketch-rig,  notwithstanding  that 
it  was  found  serviceable  by  the  fisherman,  was  until 
fairly  recently  not  adopted  by  the  yachtsman,  though 
it  is  in  many  ways  suitable  for  vessels  of  anything 
above  eleven  or  twelve  tons ;  and  by  splitting  up  the 
canvas  into  such  dimensions  as  enable  it  to  be  handled 
easily  it  has  much  to  commend  itself.  Otherwise, 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  vessels,  the  yawl  and 
cutter  rigs  have  been  chiefly  employed  for  cruisers. 

But  as  democracy  has  gradually  superseded  aris- 
tocracy, as  wealth  has  spread  from  the  few  to  the 
many ;  so  when  the  sport  of  yachting  became,  com- 
paratively speaking,  universal,  it  followed  that  there 
was  the  man  of  moderate  means  to  be  catered  for 
quite  as  much  as  the  man  who  could  afford  to  com- 
mission his  fine  big  schooner,  or  yawl,  or  cutter  year 


266      THE    FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

by  year.  But  there  was  this  difference :  the  former 
wished  to  dispense  with  the  paid  hand  altogether,  or 
at  any  rate  as  far  as  possible.  This  not  only  allowed 
of  greater  improvement  as  to  internal  accommodation, 
inasmuch  as  it  left  the  crew's  quarters  available,  but 
it  sfave  room  for  such  devices  as  would  minimise  labour 
in  different  ways.  And  to-day,  if  we  omit  from  our 
purview  the  big,  crack  racing  yachts,  it  is  the  keen 
amateur  who,  either  alone  or  in  company  with  a  few 
kindred  spirits,  makes  up  the  largest  proportion  of 
membership  in  the  many  yacht  and  sailing  clubs  that 
exist  in  all  parts  of  the  globe  where  the  fore-and-aft 
yacht  is  in  vogue. 

For  a  time  the  old  ideals  were  followed,  the  ideals 
which  belonged  rather  to  the  bigger  craft  with  ample 
paid  assistance.  But  comparatively  recently  the  mode- 
rate-sized yacht  has  been  given  the  attention  which 
she  deserves.  It  is  because  many  an  owner  has  found 
to  his  cost  that  whilst  sometimes  a  paid  hand  is  more 
than  worthy  of  his  hire,  yet  there  is  so  much  uncer- 
tainty about  him  as  a  class,  there  are  so  many  unsatis- 
factory members  of  his  vocation,  that  it  were  best  to 
try  and  do  without  him.  Added  to  which  there  would 
also  thereby  be  a  considerable  saving  in  wages,  and 
the  much-increased  joy  of  being  independent  of  all 
professional  help. 

Vessels  of  18  or  20  tons  are  now  designed  and  built 
and  rigged  with  so  much  skill  that  they  can  be  taken 
anywhere  along  the  coast  without  a  professional  crew. 
Of  these  perhaps  the  most  famous  is  the  ketch-rigged 
Maud,  a  photograph  of  whicli  is  seen  in  Fig.  69,  which 
I  mention  especially  owing  to  the  fact  that  she  has 
already  shown  herself  to  be  an  influence  on  the  develop- 
ment of  the  Corinthian  cruiser.  By  common  consent 
there  are  summed  up  in  her  many  of  the  virtues  which 
the  largest  class  of  yachtsmen  believe  to  be  essential 
for  a  cruiser.  She  is  not  a  species  of  a  type,  but  has 
an  originality  which  demands  criticism  at  once.     There 


Fig:-  75- 


Sailing  Lifeboat 


The  modern  so-called  "canoe-stern  "  which  forms  part  of  the  design  ot  some  cruisers  is 
nowhere  better  exhibited  than  in  the  Scotch  fishing  craft,  the  Norwegian  fore-and-afters, 
and  the  lifeboat. 


Fig-.  76. 


Norwegian  Pilot  Cutter 

Notice  the  large  staysail.     These  craft  measure  about  3S  ft.  to  40  ft.  in  length  over  all. 


IN   GREAT    BRITAIN   AND   AMERICA     267 

is  nothing  of  the  old-fashioned,  unhandy,  heavily-rigged 
cruiser  in  her  character,  but  everything  has  been  thought 
out  to  the  smallest  details.  And  therefore,  though  she 
will  be  familiar  to  many  readers  of  these  pages,  one 
may  legitimately  call  attention  to  her  now. 

Originally  intended  for  a  long  ocean  cruise,  she  was 
made  of  great  strength.  She  was  designed  and  built 
by  Fife  of  Fairlie  in  1899,  and  has  a  Thames  tonnage 
of  21,  her  length  over  all  being  41  ft.  9  in.,  her  draught 
6  ft.  8  in.  After  being  purchased  by  Mr.  Claud  Worth 
and  Mr,  C.  D.  Marshall  (of  whom  the  latter  is  still 
part  owner),  she  was  considerably  improved  as  to  her 
equipment,  and  in  spite  of  her  size  is  acknowledged  to 
be  one  of  the  handiest  craft  afloat.  Those  who  have 
sailed  in  her  say  that  Maud  is  a  splendid  sea-boat,' 
and  the  fact  that  she  has  been  handled  on  any  ordinary 
cruise  by  the  owner  and  his  wife  must  be  taken  as 
sufficient  proof  of  her  virtues  as  a  convenient  craft. 
Built  with  oak  frames  and  pitch-pine  planking,  with 
seven  tons  of  ballast  on  her  keel  and  a  couple  of  tons 
of  lead  inside,  she  has  a  canoe  stern,  a  moderately  cut- 
away bow,  and  a  bold  sheer  with  fine  high  shoulders. 
The  mainboom  is  fitted  with  a  reefing-gear,  and  the 
jib  has  the  Wykeham-Martin  furling  gear. 

For  running  before  the  wind  a  square-sail  is  used 
as  a  better  cruising  sail  than  the  spinnaker,  the  yard 
being  hoisted  by  the  fore-halyards.  A  shackle  is  made 
fast  to  the  yard  at  the  slings,  and  travels  up  and  down 
the  jackstay,  the  fall  of  the  halyard  being  bent  to  the 
yard  as  a  down-haul.  Of  course  no  one  can  expect 
a  ketch  to  go  to  windward  as  well  as  a  cutter,  but 
since  Maud  has  had  her  gafF  shortened  she  has  been 
considerably  improved,  and  she  is  certainly  fast  on  all 
points  of  sailing.  A  little  time  since  she  was  fitted 
with  a  small  auxiliary  motor,  which  has  been  found  to 
add  to  her  already  considerable  efficiency.  The  very 
many  interesting  details  that  compose  her  personality, 
with  the  numerous  ingenious  devices,  space  will  not  allow 


268      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

of  being  discussed  here,  but  those  who  are  interested 
may  be  referred  to  an  entertaining  and  full  description 
of  this  vessel  given  by  her  late  owner,  Mr.  Claud 
Worth,  in  the  Yachting  Monthly  for  April  of  1908,  to 
which  issue,  as  well  as  to  Mr.  C.  D.  Marshall,  I  am 
myself  indebted  for  certain  information  here  gathered. 

The  Maud  has  cruised  all  round  England  from  the 
south  coast,  east  about  and  back  again,  and  is  still 
one  of  the  most  admirable  cruisers  on  the  south  coast. 
For  here  is  a  yacht  that  has  a  good  turn  of  speed, 
as  well  as  sea-keeping  qualities ;  that  can  be  managed 
without  paid  assistance,  that  is  handy  as  well  as  com- 
fortable, habitable  as  well  as  handsome.  These  are 
among  the  most  notable  qualifications  which  the  ideal 
cruiser  of  modern  dimensions  demand,  and  accordingly 
Maud  is  likely  to  be  an  influence  for  some  time  to 
come.  There  are  those  who  object  to  the  canoe  stern, 
either  because  it  is  unsightly  or  that  it  leaves  very 
little  deck-room  right  aft.  The  latter  may  be  a  draw- 
back, but  the  former  criticism  is  rather  a  matter  of 
personal  taste.  At  any  rate,  this  form  of  stern  makes 
an  ideal  one  for  bad  weather  in  a  following  sea,  and 
the  fact  that  it  is  the  same  principle  which  is  to  be 
seen  in  the  old  Viking  ships,  the  whalers,  and  the 
modern  Scotch  fishing  craft  must  instantly  commend 
itself  as  having  very  considerable  merits.  It  is  the  same 
principle,  is  it  not,  which  is  always  seen  in  the  life- 
boat, as  the  accompanying  illustration  (Fig.  75)  shows ; 
and  it  is  more  natural  that  a  vessel  should  be  so-called 
"  double-ended,"  and  thereby  better  balanced  as  to  its 
ends,  than  that  it  should  be  given  a  long,  overhanging 
counter,  or  the  ugly  transom  stern  of  the  Itchen  Ferry 
type  of  craft. 

From  the  21 -ton  ketch-rigged  Maud  we  pass  on  to 
consider  the  designs  of  the  10- ton  yawl  Seal  (Figs.  70, 
72,  77),  which,  through  the  courtesy  of  their  creator, 
Mr.  Albert  Strange,  are  here  reproduced.  I  have 
included  the  Seal  for  several  reasons.     In  a  recent  de- 


270      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

signing  competition  she  won  for  herself  a  great  deal  of 
praise  both  because  of  her  originality  and  the  features 
which  she  exhibits  as  the  outcome  of  actual  sea-experi- 
ence. Whilst  many  a  man  may  feel  inclined  to  hesitate 
before  he  would  tackle  a  vessel  of  the  size  of  Maud,  yet 
in  the  Seal  there  is  attempted  a  somewhat  similar  type 
of  craft,  but  of  inferior  tonnage.  In  many  ways  the 
Seal  is  the  ideal  cruiser  to  a  man  of  moderate  means 
seeking  a  vessel  that  will  give  him  a  comfortable  home 
as  long  as  he  is  afloat,  but  possessing  those  necessary 
qualities  of  good  speed  and  ability  to  endure  weather  up 
to  a  summer  gale.  Such  a  craft  as  this  would  be  able 
to  be  independent  of  the  shore  for  a  week,  would  be  able 
to  go  through  a  fair  amount  of  dirty  weather,  and  would 
be  dry  in  a  seaway,  plucky  and  strong.  And  yet  she  is 
pleasing  to  the  eye,  easy  to  handle,  and  without  com- 
plicated devices.  As  she  is  intended  to  be  sailed  without 
paid  hands,  the  forecastle  gives  an  additional  cabin. 

The  Seal  measures  in  length  over  all  37  ft.  7  in., 
extreme  beam  9  ft.,  draught  6  ft.,  length  on  water-line 
30  ft.  7  in.,  so  that  her  overhang  is  exactly  7  ft.  At 
the  bow  she  has  4  ft.  10  in.  of  freeboard,  and  at  the  stern 
3  ft.  8^  in.,  her  displacement  being  11-68  tons.  It  will 
be  noticed  that  on  her  keel  she  has  over  four  tons  of 
lead,  and  her  sail-area  is  740  sq.  ft. ;  that  is  to  say,  with 
jib,  foresail,  mainsail,  topsail,  and  mizzen  set.  Accord- 
ing to  the  specification  of  her  designer,  this  little  vessel 
would  be  built  with  timbers  of  Ensflish  oak  and  floors 
of  galvanised  wrought-iron,  the  fastenings  to  be  of  muntz 
metal  and  copper.  The  planking  would  vary  in  thick- 
ness from  If  to  1^  inches.  A  winch  with  brake  is  to  be 
placed  forward  for  the  anchor- work,  and  both  the  main- 
and  fore-sheet  are  to  work  on  galvanised-iron  horses. 
In  the  after-cabin  will  be  seen  a  slow-combustion 
stove,  and  this  connects  with  the  flue  which  comes  from 
the  galley-stove,  the  latter  having  also  an  oven.  The 
cockpit  is  lined  with  lead  and  made  watertight,  with 
a  couple  of  pipes  placed  aft  for  discharging  into  the  sea. 


Fig.  78. 


Sail  Plan  of  "Sheila  II." 

This  is  an  8-tonner,  measuring  31  ft.  7  in.  in  length  over  all. 


P.  271 


i  I/'  : 


IN   GREAT   BRITAIN    AND   AMERICA     271 

All  the  rigging  is  to  be  of  wire,  the  running-gear  to 
be  of  best  manila.  The  internal  accommodation  plan 
shows  how  much  comfort  can  be  easily  worked  into 
even  a  ten-tonner.  Immediately  below  the  cockpit 
there  is  a  nice  space  for  storage-room,  forward  of  which 
is  the  steerage,  with  a  patent  w.c,  folding  washstand, 
and  cupboard  for  oilskins  and  sea-boots.  The  side-  and 
anchor-lights  are  handily  placed  on  a  shelf  in  the  steer- 
age ready  for  immediate  use.  The  saloon  is  fitted  up 
with  berths,  which  can  be  lowered  at  night-time  and 
folded  back  out  of  sight  during  the  day.  Ample  care 
has  been  bestowed  on  such  conveniences  as  net-racks, 
wardrobe,  cupboards,  and  lockers. 

In  the  forecastle  the  sides  are  lined  with  pitch-pine 
and  varnished,  the  locker-doors  and  cupboard-doors 
being  of  the  same  material.  By  an  ingenious  arrange- 
ment the  nuisance  of  the  dinghy  is  overcome.  Every 
one  knows  how  very  tiresome  she  can  make  herself  when 
being  towed,  and  how  awkward  she  is  to  stow  on  deck. 
But  in  the  accompanying  illustrations  it  will  be  seen 
that  the  suggestion  is  made  for  her  central  thwart  to  be 
unshipped,  so  that  she  can,  after  being  capsized,  rest 
comfortably  over  the  skylight.  True,  this  would  make 
the  cabin  dark  during  the  voyage,  but  that  is  inevit- 
able and  could  be  endured,  especially  as  one  is  mostly 
on  deck  during  daylight,  and  when  it  is  night  the 
presence  of  the  dinghy  on  the  top  would  not  matter 
during  a  passage.  In  harbour,  of  course,  it  would  be 
usually  afloat.  As  the  dinghy  is  meant  to  sail,  and 
the  movable  central  thwart  prevents  the  use  of  a 
centre-board,  leeboards,  after  the  Dutch  fashion,  are 
provided. 

The  Seal  has  so  much  by  which  to  commend  her  to 
all  who  are  interested  in  the  evolution  of  the  small, 
handy,  comfortable  cruiser  that  she  is  well  deserving  of 
careful  consideration.  But  a  slightly  smaller  craft,  also 
yawl-rigged,  and  in  many  ways  resembling  the  Seal,  is 
to  be  found  in  the  Sheila  II.,  whose  lines  are  here 


272      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

reproduced  (Figs.  78,  79,  80).  This  is  an  eight- tonner, 
and  measures  31  ft.  7  in.  in  length  over  all,  24  ft.  on 
the  water-line,  beam  8  ft.  6  in.,  draught  4  ft.  11  in., 
sail-area  545  sq.  ft.  At  the  moment  of  writing  this 
craft  is  being  constructed,  and  she  promises  to  be  a 
very  sturdy  little  yawl.  She  is  a  veritable  single- 
hander,  with  single  headsail,  a  moderate  sail-area,  and 
well  split-up.  She  has  plenty  of  accommodation,  good 
forecastle,  and  a  number  of  interesting  and  ingenious 
devices  for  making  the  best  of  every  inch  of  room.  She 
has  5  ft.  7^  in.  of  head-room  under  the  beams,  so  that 
for  an  eight-tonner  she  is  by  no  means  ill-provided  in 
this  respect.  The  bowsprit,  as  is  the  modern  custom  in 
contradistinction  to  the  ideas  of  the  early  nineteenth 
century,  is  quite  short. 

In  a  hard  blow,  when  the  storm-jib  will  be  set,  the 
tack  of  the  latter  will  be  made  fast  by  means  of  a 
shackle  to  the  stem-head  so  that  the  whole  of  this  sail 
would  be  inboard.  Her  internal  accommodation  is 
especially  interesting  and  comfortable  for  a  vessel  of 
this  tonnage.  In  the  steerage,  after  descending  the 
companion,  there  is  on  the  port  hand  a  convenient 
place  for  cooking,  so  that  the  single-hander  can  keep 
an  eye  on  this  domestic  department  whilst  he  is  still 
at  the  helm.  Furthermore,  this  steerage  is  a  convenient 
place  for  taking  off  one's  oilies  and  leaving  behind  any 
dampness  that  might  otherwise  come  into  the  cabin. 
On  the  starboard  hand  are  seats  and  lockers,  with  a 
place  for  the  lamps  above.  Undoubtedly  this  is  the 
right  part  of  the  ship  for  these  details.  There  are  times 
when  in  a  seaway,  and  the  little  craft  is  endeavouring 
to  stand  first  on  her  head  and  then  on  her  tail,  it  is 
trying  even  to  the  most  hardened  to  have  to  go  forward 
either  to  attend  to  the  stove  or  to  get  out  the  side-lights. 
Many  a  professional  seaman  succumbs  under  these  cir- 
cumstances. But  with  such  an  arranorement  as  is  here 
shown,  everything  is  at  hand  and  where  it  is  most  likely 
to  be  wanted.     The  fresh- water  tank  is  placed  immedi- 


/»^ 


fe       <M 


H        (0 


274      THE   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

ately  below,  and  the  water  is  raised  by  a  semi-rotary 
pump  to  the  part  of  the  steerage  where  it  is  required. 
In  the  cabin  a  couple  of  lockers  have  been  cleverly 
worked  into  the  plan  for  the  purpose  of  keeping  the 
blankets  quite  dry  and  out  of  the  way.  A  sliding  door 
gives  access  to  the  forecastle,  which  is  fitted  with  a 
folding  cot.  The  other  details  are  so  well  shown  in  the 
accompanying  plans  that  they  need  not  be  explained 
further. 

Smaller  still  comes  the  Cherub  III.  (Figs.  81,  82, 
and  87),  designed  also  by  Mr.  Strange  and  for  his  own 
use.  She  is  a  six-tonner  with  a  displacement  of  4*6 
tons,  measuring  28  ft.  6  in.  over  all,  22 '95  on  the  water- 
line,  and  draws  3  ft.  10  in.  of  water.  Her  owner 
describes  her  as  very  able,  a  splendid  sea-boat,  and  very 
comfortable.  Again  we  have  the  yawl  rig  and  again 
the  single  headsail.  With  her  8  ft.  beam,  her  sail- 
area  of  483  sq.  ft.,  her  excellent  accommodation  below 
with  plenty  of  locker  space  and  room  for  stowage  of 
ropes,  &c.,  and  with  many  of  the  features  on  a  smaller 
scale  which  the  Sheila  II.  possesses,  this  craft  will 
appeal  to  the  amateur  sailor  who  does  his  cruising  in 
small  craft. 

In  the  Norma  (Figs.  83,  84,  and  85)  we  have  the 
canoe-yacht  type  of  vessel  worked  out  to  give  a  dis- 
placement of  3*35  tons  on  a  length  over  all  of  25-4  ft., 
with  20  ft.  on  the  water-line,  and  a  beam  of  7  ft.  2  in. , 
the  draught  being  3  ft.  4  in.,  and  the  sail-area  365 
sq.  ft.  Extreme  convenience  in  getting  up  sails  is  made 
possible  with  this  split-up  sail-plan,  though  for  so  small 
a  craft  many  people  would  prefer  the  cutter  rig.  She 
has  a  good  amount  of  freeboard  at  the  bows  and  a  nice 
sheer,  whilst  below,  as  will  be  readily  seen,  her  accom- 
modation is  compact  and  well  thought  out. 

And  so  we  might  go  on  to  add  other  instances,  and 
show  how  the  fore-and-aft  rig  has  adapted  itself  even 
to  the  smallest  possible  raters,  to  the  dinghies,  to  canoes, 
and  even  to  the  model  yachts.     But  we  have  already 


hH         "^^ 


276      THE  FORE-AND-AFT   RIG   TO-DAY 

shown  in  what  manner  and  under  what  influences  the 
various  main  developments  of  the  rig  have  taken  place 
within  our  own  times  by  the  Anglo-Saxon  people.  It 
has  been,  and  still  continues  to  be,  a  blessing  and  a 
boon  to  sailor-men,  whether  professional  or  amateur, 
and  with  the  addition  of  the  motor  within  the  last  few 
years  it  has  shown  itself  far  too  valuable  to  be  discarded 
for  many  long  years  to  come.  It  has  been  the  means 
of  keeping  alive  that  spirit  which  is  one  of  the  most 
valuable  possessions  of  our  race,  the  love  of  the  sea ; 
for  the  square  rig  means  a  large  craft,  and  that  means 
increased  expense  and  fewer  numbers. 

But  the  fore-and-aft  rig,  because  it  is  applicable 
even  to  the  smallest  craft,  is  at  once  a  training  institu- 
tion for  the  learner  and  an  economical  teacher.  What- 
ever changes  our  shipping  and  craft  may  in  the  years 
to  come  be  destined  to  suffer,  at  least  it  is  to  be  desired 
that  so  wholesome  a  lurer  to  the  healthy  enjoyment  of 
the  sea  life  will  not  be  allowed  to  be  withdrawn.  To- 
day the  development  of  this  rig  owes  more  than  is 
usually  admitted  to  the  yachtsman,  who  remains,  as  has 
been  well  said,  the  only  educated  sailing-man  at  a  time 
when  the  remaining  sailors  are,  if  not  marine  engineers, 
at  any  rate  nautical  chauffeurs  who  look  upon  a  ship 
rather  as  a  convenient  creature  for  housing  their  wonder- 
fully complex  machinery  than  as  a  being  of  infinite 
character,  infinite  beauty,  and  of  incredible  charm.  So 
long  as  the  ship  is  allowed  to  retain  her  sails — not  as 
auxiliaries  but  as  essentials — she  can  only  be  improved 
by  the  addition  of  a  motor  as  her  secondary  power. 
But  as  soon  as  she  gives  herself  over  entirely  to  steam 
or  oil  she  sacrifices  that  simplicity  which  is,  and  always 
has  been,  the  most  charming  part  of  her  character. 

And  now,  having  seen  the  modern  developments  of 
this  rig  among  our  own  people,  let  us  pass  on  to  note 
the  conditions  which  prevail  in  other  European  coun- 
tries where  the  fore-and-aft  rig  flourishes  to-day. 


CHAPTER   V  III 

THE  MODEKN  FOllE-AND-AFT  RIG  IN  SCANDINAVIA, 
HOLLAND,  BELGIUM,  FRANCE,  AND  SOUTHERN 
EUROPE 

SCANDINAVIA  and  the  Baltic  have  been  the 
dominating  influence  throughout  the  history  of 
north  European  naval  architecture,  and  so  we  shall, 
in  our  survey  of  the  modern  fore-and-aft  rig  in  foreign 
countries,  begin  in  the  north,  and  thence  on  our  south- 
ward journey  take  note  of  all  that  Holland,  Belgium, 
France,  and  southern  Europe  may  have  to  show  us 
in  regard  to  our  study.  We  have  again  to  emphasise 
the  fact  that  it  is  impossible  within  the  space  allotted 
to  us  to  take  every  species  of  craft  and  discuss  it  in 
detail.  Our  object  throughout  the  course  of  this  book 
has  been  rather  to  show  the  connected  narrative  of  the 
fore-and-aft  rig  as  exemplified  in  different  waters  than 
to  form  a  list  of  every  kind  of  sailing  vessel  which 
each  nation  possesses.  The  Norwegian  "jaegt,"  for 
instance,  with  its  single  mast,  square-sail,  square  top- 
sail, and  bonnet  to  the  former  sail,  does  not  belong 
to  the  fore-and-aft  rig,  and  therefore  need  not  detain 
us ;  and  there  are  other  smaller  Norwegian  craft  which, 
with  their  single  mast,  square-sail,  and  double-ended 
hull,  still  keep  alive  the  ancient  characteristics  of  the 
Viking  craft. 

From  the  use  through  centuries  of  that  square-sail 
there  has  come  gradually  and  in  the  most  natural 
manner  the  lugsail  of  varying  patterns  carried  on 
these  double-ended  fishing-boats.  Who  shall  say  how 
it  was  that  the  square-sail  in  northern  Europe  as  in 


278     THE   MODERN   P'ORE-ANU-AFT   RIG 

Egypt  was  to  give  way  to,  or  rather  be  merged  into, 
the  lug  of  some  sort  ?  Most  probably  it  was  for  the 
same  reason  that  compelled  the  Egyptian  to  adopt  the 
nuggar  rig — because  of  handiness  for  windward  work. 
It  always  seems  to  me  that  the  transition  from  the 
Viking  square-sail  to  the  lug  really  began  with  the 
use  of  bowlines.  After  that  the  transformation  of  the 
canvas  from  a  square  to  a  fore-and-aft  sail  came  fairly 
easily.  But  whatever  was  the  exact  cause  of  the 
transition,  the  lug  spread  from  Norway  to  Scotland, 
as  we  saw  just  now,  and  thither  also  crossed  the  Norse- 
like fashion  in  naval  architecture  which  has  given  those 
double  ends  to  the  Scotch  fishing  craft. 

The  pure  descent,  then,  from  the  square-rigged 
Viking  ship  in  Scandinavia  to-day  is  one  of  those 
so-called  "  yawls  "  with  double  ends,  the  mast  stepped 
about  midships,  no  decks,  and  one  large  square-sail 
as  our  forefathers  beheld  it  when  the  enemies  of  our 
land  swept  down  in  fleets  from  their  country  across 
the  North  Sea.  And  first  cousin  to  this  "  yawl "  is 
that  other  kind  of  craft  similar  in  most  respects  save 
for  the  fact  that  the  square-sail  has  changed  itself  into 
a  lug.  These  are  the  first  two  classes  to  be  borne  in 
mind.  But  the  north  was  to  be  influenced  by  the 
south ;  and  as  Holland,  at  the  height  of  her  maritime 
power,  was  to  affect  the  rig  of  England's  small  craft, 
so  this  Dutch  influence  was  to  spread  to  Scandinavia. 

And  thus  we  find  to-day  in  Norway,  in  Sweden,  in 
Denmark,  and  along  the  German  coast  in  the  Baltic, 
that  the  spritsail  of  Holland  is  used  just  as  it  was  by 
the  Dutch  of  the  sixteenth  century.  That  is  to  say, 
the  sail  is  not  peaked  as  it  is  in  the  modern  Thames 
barge,  but  the  peak  is  no  higher,  and  sometimes  even 
slightly  lower,  than  the  throat  of  the  sail.  This  is  the 
third  type — the  application  of  a  characteristically  Dutch 
rig  on  to  a  typically  Scandinavian  type  of  hull.  And 
there  is  the  fourth  type  which  shows  the  further  in- 
fluence of  the  later  development  of  the   fore-and-aft 


>     >    >       > 


IN   SCANDINAVIA  279 

rig,  which  has  done  away  with  the  sprit,  and  instead 
added  a  boom  and  gaff,  added  also  another  mast — 
brought  about  the  gaUiot,  in  fact,  also  like  the  Dutch. 
And  lastly,  did  our  limits  permit  us,  we  could  go  on 
to  show  the  land  of  the  Vikings  yielding  to  English 
influence  and  going  in  for  steamships. 

Now  it  is  remarkable  that  the  people  of  the  north, 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  they  have  shown  them- 
selves willing  to  accept  the  cutter  and  the  ketch  rigs, 
have  nevertheless  held  on  to  a  more  or  less  Viking 
shape  of  hull.  The  same  motive  that  prompted  the 
old  Norsemen  to  choose  a  double-ended  craft,  that 
to-day  influences  the  design  of  lifeboats,  whale-boats, 
and  Scotch  fishing  craft — namely,  the  desire  to  get 
the  best  design  for  the  worst  weather — is  still  at 
work  in  the  fashioning  of  the  craft  of  the  Baltic 
and  Norway.  We  have  in  our  last  chapter  seen  this 
influence  coming  back  again  in  the  latest  type  of  the 
best  British  cruisers — in  Maud,  in  Seal,  and  so  on. 
For  magna  est  Veritas  et  prcevalebit.  You  may  suppress 
truth  for  centuries,  but  by  its  own  power  it  will  raise 
itself  into  recognition  again  in  due  course.  You  may 
forsake  all  the  lessons  which  evolved  from  the  Norse 
period,  you  may  banish  their  designs  from  appearing 
in  your  craft  from  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 
century,  but  here  in  the  twentieth  you  are  going 
back  to  them.  The  fact  is  that  history  is  emphatically 
not  one  long  procession  of  progress :  rather  it  is  a 
series  of  progressions  and  regressions.  At  the  time 
of  the  Vikings  it  was  progression  indeed,  and  naval 
architects  to-day  of  the  highest  standing,  who  have 
gone  carefully  over  the  lines  of  these  Viking  ships 
which  have  been  unearthed  and  still  exist  in  Nor- 
way, tell  you  that  their  design  could  not  be  excelled 
even  by  our  best  men  of  modern  times. 

But  thereafter  all  sorts  of  side-influences  came  in 
to  modify  the  straight  course  of  development.  The 
demand  for   big-bellied  cargo-carriers,   the  growth  of 


280     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

the  sterncastle  and  the  forecastle,  the  wild,  eccentric 
influence  of  the  towering  poop  of  the  sixteenth  and 
seventeenth  centuries,  the  craze  for  ships  of  great 
tonnage,  the  influence  of  artillery  on  ship  designs, 
the  addition  of  a  kind  of  stern  platform  to  the  tran- 
som stern,  and  so  the  transition  to  the  later  counter — 
these  separate  forces  caused  the  natural — the  Viking — 
ends  of  a  ship  to  be  developed  beyond  all  recognition. 
Therefore,  in  the  present,  which  is  an  age  rather  of 
inquiry  than  of  blind  convention,  it  is  but  natural 
that  we  should  go  back  to  first  principles.  If  we  have 
in  mind  the  desire  for  a  vessel  of  moderate  size,  that 
is  not  to  be  hampered  by  any  considerations  of  cargo 
accommodation,  warfare,  enormous  tonnage  for  the 
carrying  of  large  crews  and  soldiery,  or  racing :  if,  in 
short,  we  are  looking  for  that  which  the  old  Vikings 
— the  first  great  seafaring  people  of  northern  Europe — 
wanted,  viz.  a  good  sea-craft,  then  it  is  only  reasonable 
that  we  should  cast  our  eyes  in  the  direction  of  the 
Norse  region  and  study  the  type  which  generation 
after  generation  has  happily  preserved. 

The  history  of  any  country  is  roughly  thus,  is  it 
not  ?  It  begins  with  utter  chaos  and  absence  of  rule. 
Then  order  enters  in,  and  the  country  begins  steadily 
to  prosper.  The  next  step  sees  it  advancing  rapidly  to 
prosperity  until  it  attains  a  climax.  So  long  as  it  re- 
mains at  that  pivot  it  influences  the  other  nations  in  all 
sorts  of  ways,  of  which  shipping  is  one.  Then  there 
sets  in  the  retrogression  from  that  high  point ;  it  ceases 
to  be  an  influence,  and  some  other  nation  usurps  its 
former  proud  position.  It  was  so  with  Rome,  it  was 
with  the  land  of  the  Norsemen,  it  was  with  Spain,  it 
was  with  Holland ;  and  there  are  those  who  say  that  with 
England  the  retrogression  has  begun.  The  Norsemen 
rose  from  insignificance  to  superiority  in  northern 
Europe,  and  after  the  climax  of  their  power  was 
reached  they  dwindled  away  to  nothing.  But  as  a 
relic  of  their  epoch  of  supremacy  there  survives  the 


J3   y 
3    V 


If 


>  s 


IN    SCANDINAVIA  281 

Viking  design  in  ships.  The  Dutch  also  bequeathed 
to  us  the  sloop  or  cutter  rig,  just  as  ancient  Rome  had, 
before  she  decUned,  left  to  the  world  a  legacy  that  is 
still  the  basis  of  all  legal  systems.  Spain  rose  to 
supremacy  and  then  fell,  but  she  had  unlocked  the 
door  of  the  New  World  and  shown  to  the  East  what  a 
wonderful  treasure-house  the  West  contained.  And  if 
we  must  apply  ourseh^es  strictly  to  matters  of  marine 
interest,  let  us  add  that  it  was  the  Spanish  who  be- 
queathed to  posterity  the  first  data  for  the  science  and 
art  of  navigation. 

To  come  back,  then,  to  our  main  theme,  it  would 
seem  to  have  been  the  duty  of  the  Vikings  to  leave 
for  us  the  right  design  for  a  sea-craft,  and  it  is  only 
to-day  that  after  years  of  cross-purposes  and  bung- 
ling we  are  beginning  to  recognise  the  value  of  that 
legacy.  We  are  wont  in  England  to  speak  of  the 
"  canoe-stern,"  but  that  is  because  we  have  been  accus- 
tomed to  see  such  an  ending  to  a  boat  on  these  frail 
craft.  It  would  be  more  correct  if  we  were  to  describe 
the  type  as  the  Norse  stern.  The  old-fashioned  stern  is 
vanishing  even  from  those  very  different  steel  walls 
which  compose  our  modern  navies.  Take  the  torpedo- 
boats  and  destroyers :  consider  the  stern  even  of  a 
modern  "  Dreadnought,"  and  there  is  nothing  of  the 
square  or  circular  character  which  belonged  to  the 
sterns  of  the  period  when  the  "  wooden  walls  "  were  in 
vogue.  We  need  not  enter  into  the  very  different 
reasons  which  have  influenced  the  Admiralty  to  intro- 
duce a  stern-formation  different  from  a  few  years  ago. 
A  number  of  reasons  could  be  adduced  connected  with 
warfare,  but  another  reason  is  found  in  the  progress  of 
modern  naval  architecture. 

And  if  we  pass  over  those  intermediate  centuries 
when  architectural  truths  were  forgotten,  when  the 
shipman  was  not  able  to  realise  how  much  his  earliest 
ancestors  had  taught  him,  and  then  come  down  to  the 
most  modern  times,  we  shall  find  that  the  curve  of 


282     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

coincidence  begins  with  the  Vikings,  bears  away  for 
centuries,  and  then  comes  back  to  the  epoch  in  which 
we  are  now  dwelhng.  It  is  indeed  no  rash  prophecy  to 
suggest  that  the  influence  of  the  general  Unes  of  the 
Norse-hke  bow  and  stern  will  in  the  future  be  evi- 
denced in  such  craft  as  our  fishing-boats,  pilot  craft, 
and  yachts  to  an  extent  never  before  attempted.  The 
fact  was  that  the  early  Norwegians  grasped  an  im- 
portant fact  and  held  on  to  it.  Because  they  never 
had  reason  during  the  Middle  Ages  to  become  a  great 
nation  of  discoverers,  or  traders,  or  fighters,  they  never 
had  to  build  great  ships,  and  so  never  lost  hold  of  their 
original  design.  We  certainly  have  lost  hold  of  that 
formation,  but  are  getting  back  to  it. 

As  our  space  is  limited,  we  will  content  ourselves  with 
four  separate  types  of  the  north  in  which  this  early  in- 
fluence still  persists  in  spite  of  the  different  natures  of  the 
respective  craft.  These  four  will  embrace  an  auxiliary 
motor  fishing  craft,  a  sailing  lifeboat,  a  pilot-craft,  and 
a  famous  and  historic  contemporary  vessel  engaged 
in  Polar  exploration.  Common  to  all  these,  though  of 
different  tonnage,  is  the  influence  we  have  just  been 
discussing.  The  first  of  these  will  be  seen  in  Fig.  88, 
which  shows  the  lines  of  an  auxiliary  motor  fishing- 
boat  of  Frederikshaven,  Denmark,  which  is  here  repro- 
duced through  the  courtesy  of  M.  Soe,  the  well-known 
French  naval  architect.  Almost  all  the  boats  of  this 
type  are  now  fitted  with  paraffin  motors  and  are  ketch- 
rigged,  and  yet  practically  the  old  Viking  lines  of  the 
hull  are  still  retained  as  will  be  seen.  Of  course  they 
have  been  slightly  modified  for  modern  needs ;  other- 
wise they  are  as  stated. 

It  may  seem  to  the  mere  archfeologist  that  it  is 
almost  shameful  to  debase  so  old  and  venerable  a  type 
of  craft  by  the  addition  of  a  motor  propeller  and  its 
shaft.  But  this  same  species  of  critic  would  in  Viking 
times  have  asserted  that  it  was  a  shame  to  spoil  those 
beautiful,  long  ships  by  the  addition  of  a  mast  and  sail, 


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284     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

seeing  that  they  could  be  rowed  so  well.  Surely  it  is 
the  duty  of  the  shipman,  no  matter  what  age  he  may 
be  living  in,  to  do  the  best  he  can  to  give  his  craft  a 
greater  efficiency,  and  to  avail  himself  of  any  and  every 
invention  or  device  towards  this  end.  We  can  be  quite 
sure  that  if,  say,  about  the  eighth  century  of  our  era 
there  had  been  such  things  as  paraffin  motors  in  Norway 
the  Vikings  would  most  certainly  have  installed  them 
when  once  they  had  convinced  themselves  of  their  suit- 
ability for  the  work  to  be  undertaken.  The  Danish 
craft  before  us  measures  16-75  metres  in  length  over  all, 
and  is  driven  by  an  Alpha  motor  of  20  horse-power. 

In  the  modern  "  redningskoite,"  or  Norwegian 
sailing  lifeboat,  the  same  important  convention  that 
we  have  noted  still  survives.  The  exceedingly  interest- 
ing plans  of  this  singularly  able  type  of  craft  (Figs.  89, 
92,  and  97)  have  been  here  reproduced  through  the 
courtesy  of  Mr.  Colin  Archer,  who  migrated  across  the 
North  Sea  to  settle  in  the  port  of  Larvik.  Here  is  a 
most  interesting  case  of  a  Britisher  actually  influencing 
the  shipping  of  Norway,  just  as  Norway  in  the  past  has 
influenced  the  shipping  of  Britain.  There  is  in  exist- 
ence a  brave  little  ship  whose  name  is  known  in  every 
civilised  country,  which  has  been  north  and  south  from 
one  end  of  the  world  to  another,  and  will  be  remembered 
throughout  history,  not  merely  for  the  enterprise,  the 
courage,  and  the  important  scientific  results  belonging 
to  those  whom  she  carried,  but  will,  for  her  own  powers 
of  endurance,  her  strength,  and  design,  be  venerated 
throughout  the  centuries.  Every  reader  has  her  name 
on  the  tip  of  his  tongue.  At  the  present  moment  she 
is  away  in  the  South  Atlantic  making  oceanic  investi- 
gations after  having  landed  Captain  Amundsen  (the 
hero  of  the  North- West  Passage)  preparatory  to  his 
attempt  to  make  a  dash  for  the  South  Pole.  A  few 
years  ago  this  Fram  carried  Nansen  northwards  on  his 
famous  expedition  towards  the  North  Pole.  We  shall 
call  attention  to  her  again  and  give  an  illustration  of 


IN    SCANDINAVIA  285 

her  shortly,  but  for  the  present  one  may  just  note  that 
her  designer  was  not  a  Norwegian,  but  Mr.  Arelier  of 
Larvik. 

Now  to  return  to  the  "  redningskoite,"  let  us  at 
once  remark  that  this  type  of  vessel  has  been  taken  as 
the  basis  for  the  improved  modern  fishing  and  pilot 
craft  of  Norway.  Furthermore,  it  is  to  JNIr.  Archer  that 
these  separate  classes  have  been  thus  improved.  He 
would  seem  to  have  begun  by  creating  not  a  new  and 
altogether  different  kind  of  craft,  but  rather  to  have 
taken  the  existing  characteristic  Norwegian  species  and 
to  have  worked  on  that  model  in  the  direction  of 
improvement.  This  "  redningskoite  "  is,  as  a  type, 
different  from  our  British  lifeboat.  The  latter  is  more 
a  boat,  the  former  is  more  a  ship.  The  British  type  is 
mostly  open,  being  decked  only  at  the  ends,  whereas 
the  Norwegian  type  is  decked  all  over.  The  lifeboat 
has  practically  no  accommodation,  but  the  "  rednings- 
koite "  has  ample  cabin  room  below,  and  can  keep  the 
sea  for  days  independently  of  the  shore  even  in  the 
wildest  weather  which  blows  on  the  cruel  Norwegian 
coast.  "This  type  of  boat,"  says  Mr.  Archer  in  a  letter 
to  the  present  writer,  "  gives  perhaps  the  best  idea  of  my 
work.  Those  I  have  built  for  pleasure- sailing  only  are 
nearly  all  modifications  of  the  same  type,  being  designed 
more  for  good  sea-going  qualities  than  for  speed.  The 
modern  pilot-boat  is  very  like  a  redningskoite  (except 
the  internal  fittings)  but  smaller,  being  generally  38  to 
40  ft.  over  all." 

Looking  at  the  accompanying  plans,  no  one  can  hesi- 
tate to  admire  the  admirable  sea-keeping  qualities  which 
this  Norwegian  lifeboat  type  possesses.  It  is  essentially 
a  northern  design,  and  should  be  compared  with  the 
lines  of  the  Frederikshaven  fishing-boat  we  discussed 
just  now.  The  common  influence  which  is  seen  in  the 
Gogstad  ship  and  other  specimens  of  the  Viking  craft 
now  unearthed  (and  referred  to  in  detail  in  my  Sailing 
Ships)  is  here  vividly  manifest  in  the  essential  lines  of 


286     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

the  redningskoite  ;  but  the  latter  has  also  the  improve- 
ments which  time  has  brought  in  the  shape  of  a  better 
rig  than  the  old  square-sail,  a  better  form  of  rudder — at 
the  stern  instead  of  at  the  side — better  internal  accom- 
modation, and  better  methods  generally  of  producing  a 
fine,  able  sea-boat  allied  to  the  qualities  of  handiness 
and  comfort. 

These  vessels  are  built  of  the  greatest  possible 
strength  that  a  wooden  ship  of  their  size  could  possess ; 
oak,  as  in  the  case  of  the  old  Viking  ships,  being 
almost  exclusively  employed.  It  is  because  this  red- 
ningskoite was  built  primarily  for  ability  in  bad  weather 
that  those  modern  yachtsmen  who  prefer  a  ship  to  a 
pretty  toy,  who  would  choose  a  healthy  and  able  cruiser 
before  a  racing  machine,  are  selecting  this  type  as  a 
basis  for  the  design  of  their  new  craft.  The  Maud  we 
mentioned  has  certain  resemblances,  because  her  pedi- 
gree may  be  summed  up  thus  :  she  was  built  in  Scotland 
and  influenced  by  the  Loch  Fyne  type  of  craft,  which 
in  turn  was  brought  about  indirectly  by  the  proximity 
of  Norway  to  Scotland,  as  already  we  have  observed. 
The  Maud  was  designed  for  ocean  cruising,  not  for 
pottering  about  the  Solent  in  fine  weather.  The 
redningskoite,  as  we  have  seen,  was  also  designed  for 
bad  weather,  and  so,  owing  to  the  two  forces  respectively 
of  Norway  and  bad  weather  operating  on  these  two 
ships,  we  get  a  common  similarity  which  is  more  than 
accidental.  In  the  same  river  Hamble,  so  well  known 
to  most  yachtsmen,  one  has  the  opportunity  of  compar- 
ing the  two  types  by  the  most  happy  circumstance. 
For  besides  the  Maud  there  is  another  yacht  of  roughly 
the  same  tonnage  named  the  Askgard.  The  latter  is 
owned  by  Mr.  Erskine  Childers,  internationally  famous 
to  many  as  the  author  of  The  Riddle  of  the  Sands. 
This  Askgard  was  designed  by  Mr.  Colin  Archer  as  a 
yacht  but  based  on  the  redningskoite  type,  and  thus 
notwithstanding  the  fact  that  these  two  yachts  were 
designed  and  built  hundreds  of  miles  away  from  each 


IN    SCANDINAVIA  287 

other  and  in  different  countries,  yet  in  their  main 
features  the  Maud  and  Askgard  exhibit  the  clear-cut 
influence  of  Norway. 

The  reader  will  recollect  that  when  speaking  of  the 
Bristol  Channel  pilot  craft  we  referred  to  the  important 
value  of  internal  ballast.  This  fact  is  equally  appreciated 
by  the  craft  of  the  Baltic  and  Norway  which  are  so 
distinguished  for  their  easy  behaviour  in  a  seaway. 
Two-thirds  of  the  ballast  inside  and  only  one-third 
outside  on  the  keel  is  about  the  proportion.  In  the 
accompanying  lines  of  the  redningskoite  it  will  be  seen 
tliat  the  cut-away  bow  is  totally  different  from  the 
exaggerated  spoon-bow  of  the  racing  yacht,  and  there 
is  no  possibility  of  straining  through  constant  hammer- 
ing of  the  waves.  The  keel  is  a  long  straight  line  so 
that  the  vessel  will  heave-to  and  keep  on  her  course 
steadily. 

Passing  next  to  the  sail-plan  of  this  craft,  it  will  be 
seen  that,  like  those  other  sea-keeping  craft  we  have 
pointed  out,  the  staysail  is  big,  the  mizzen  being  some- 
what smaller  than  is  usual  in  ketches.  There  are  those 
who  insist  on  what  they  call  a  "  ketchy-yawl"  ;  in  other 
words,  a  yawl  rig  with  the  mizzen  larger  than  is  usual 
in  a  yawl.  But  amongst  others  I  would  prefer  to  have 
the  advantage  of  a  yawl-like  ketch,  by  which  you  have 
a  good-sized  mainsail  to  drive  the  ship  along,  and  yet 
your  comparatively  small  mizzen  is  mostly  inboard  and 
projects  but  little  abaft  the  stern.  And  so  it  will  be 
seen  in  the  sail-plan  (Fig.  89).  The  mainsail  and  mizzen 
are  loose-footed  and  no  patent  reefing-gear  is  used,  but 
double  reefing  cringles  are  attached  to  the  leach  of  the 
mainsail.  The  foot  of  the  staysail  is  cut  rather  high, 
and  thus  prevents  the  sail  from  being  so  depressing 
as  it  might  be  through  driving  the  wind  down  on  to 
the  deck  from  the  canvas.  From  a  little  abaft  where 
the  helmsman  sits  right  away  to  the  bows  on  both 
sides  of  the  ship  a  useful  and  stout  rail  runs  round, 
which  will  give  ample  protection  to  the  crew  in  bad 


X 


THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG    289 

weather.  Just  as  secure  as  a  bulwark  it  has  none  of  the 
latter's  disadvantages,  for  because  of  its  being  open  it 
allows  the  water  to  flow  off  as  rapidly  as  the  seas  are 
shipped. 

In  the  old-fashioned  type  of  English  craft  the  high 
bulwark  was  really  a  delusion.  True,  it  did  afford 
some  protection,  but  because  it  held  on  its  lee-side 
such  quantities  of  water  before  the  latter  could  escape 
through  the  scuppers  it  actually  detracted  from  the 
seaworthiness  of  the  ship  quite  as  proportionately  as  it 
added  thereto.  Three  shrouds  on  either  side  are  seen 
to  support  the  mainmast,  which,  by  the  way,  has  no 
spreader.  There  are  no  runners  or  backstays  at  all. 
The  mizzen  is  supported  by  a  single  shroud  on  either 
side,  but  placed  well  forward  of  the  mast.  There  are 
those  who  would  say  that  the  rudder  looks  unsightly 
placed  as  it  is  in  these  craft,  but  that  is  only  because 
the  eye  has  become  so  accustomed  to  seeing  a  counter- 
stern  that  it  actually  misses  it  when  it  has  disappeared. 

The  internal  accommodation  of  this  redningskoite  is 
so  thorough  and  attractive  that  it  might  well  form  the 
model  from  which  to  design  the  arrangements  below 
deck  of  the  modern  ideal  cruiser.  Access  is  given  from 
the  deck  by  the  two  companion  ladders,  the  one  forward, 
the  other  aft.  There  is  a  serviceable  cockpit,  and  some 
very  stout  bollards  are  placed  aft.  This  is  because 
these  lifeboats  sometimes  have  to  tow  home  small 
fishing-craft  caught  out  in  bad  weather.  On  either 
side  of  the  bowsprit  will  be  noticed  a  kind  of  cathead 
with  fairlead  therein.  No  one  could  assert  that  these 
add  to  the  beauty  of  the  ship,  but  they  are  eminently 
serviceable  and  prevent  the  cable  chain  from  grinding 
away  against  the  craft's  bows.  In  the  steerage  there 
are  the  sail-locker,  the  lamp  room,  provision  lockers, 
&;c. ;  forward  of  which  comes  the  saloon,  with  table  in 
the  centre  and  two  beds  on  either  side.  A  coke  stove 
is  placed  at  the  forward  end  of  this  saloon,  and  a  door 
gives  access  into  the  forward  cabin. 

T 


290     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

In  the  illustration  (Fig.  76)  will  be  seen  a  photo- 
graph of  a  modern  Norwegian  pilot-craft,  which, 
except  for  being  cutter-rigged  and  for  her  internal 
fittings,  is  very  similar  to  the  redningskoite.  She 
carries  a  large  staysail  and  a  small  jib  like  the 
Bristol  Channel  pilot-craft.  Like  the  latter,  too,  she 
is  a  staunch,  plucky  little  vessel,  having  about  thirty- 
eight  to  forty  feet  in  length  over  all.  Her  mainsail 
is  peaked  very  high,  and  she  sets  a  small  topsail. 
But  it  is  her  hull  which  is  of  such  interest  to  us 
with  its  retention  of  those  eminently  northern  features 
of  which  we  have  spoken  already.  There  are  several 
yachts  in  England  of  varying  sizes  which  have  been 
based  on  these  pilot-craft,  and  if  not  fast  in  light  winds 
they  have  proved  themselves  to  be  splendid  sea-boats. 

Finally  we  come  to  the  Fram  (Fig.  86),  which, 
though  a  considerably  larger  vessel  than  any  we  have 
been  dealing  with  in  this  chapter,  bears  in  her  hull 
the  eminently  characteristic  Norwegian  features.  She 
is  really  double-ended,  though  this  design  was  adopted 
less  from  considerations  of  weather  than  as  a  protection 
against  the  ice.  Still,  it  is  interesting  none  the  less 
to  note  this  repetition  of  type  in  Norwegian  craft 
irrespective  of  size  or  rig.  Some  means  had  to  be 
sought  by  her  designer  to  afford  her  such  a  stern  as 
would  be  able  effectually  to  cheat  the  ice,  and  he 
found  no  more  useful  stern  for  this  Polar  ship  than 
in  that  which  prevailed  in  most  of  the  craft  of  the 
north.  It  is  now  a  matter  of  history  that  the  Fram 
has  shown  herself  a  magnificent  sea-craft  and  able 
successfully  to  withstand  the  attacks  of  the  ice. 
The  accompanying  illustration  was  taken  just  before 
she  left  on  her  expedition  which  was  to  enable 
Captain  Amundsen  to  make  his  dash  for  the  South 
Pole. 

We  have  spoken  a  good  deal  of  the  part  which 
Holland  in  the  past  has  played  in  the  development 
of  the  fore-and-aft   rig:    we  may  now  pause   awhile 


i 

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:.■■  .. ■■ ..               -  -   -  ■ 

Fig  90. 


Dutch  Tjalks 

Notice  the  high  sterns  in  these. 


Fig.  91. 


A  Smallkr  Dutch  Tjalk 

There  is  an  absence  of  sheer  and  the  stem  is  not  high. 


P.  291 


IN   HOLLAND  291 

to  examine  the  prevailing  types  which  are  in  use  to- 
day. And  first  let  us  consider  the  tjalk,  which  is 
the  type  of  sailing-craft  that  is  most  frequently  met 
with  everywhere  on  the  Dutch  waters.  Usually  she 
is  of  about  fifty  to  seventy  tons,  and  is  characterised 
by  her  round  bows  and  stern,  the  latter  being 
frequently  higher  than  the  bows ;  such  is  the  persist- 
ence of  the  sixteenth-century  precedent.  These 
craft  have  a  fiat  bottom,  and  are,  of  course,  fitted 
with  leeboards.  You  see  them  everywhere  creeping 
along  with  their  brown  sails,  perhaps  beating  up  the 
Engelische  Varwater  or  running  into  the  Orange 
locks  that  keep  out  the  Zuyder  Zee  from  Amster- 
dam. You  meet  them  coming  into  Rotterdam  with 
their  cargoes  ready  to  be  put  aboard  the  sea-going 
liners ;  you  see  them  threading  their  way  in  and  out 
of  the  tightly  packed  havens  or  brought  up  at  night 
just  clear  of  the  fairway  in  the  Schelde,  or  perhaps 
sailing  stealthily  through  the  night,  not  with  side- 
lights as  is  our  custom,  but  with  a  white  light 
exhibited  at  the  masthead.  In  the  two  illustrations 
(Figs.  90  and  91)  one  can  see  three  types  of  the 
tjalk — the  large,  the  medium,  and  the  small.  In 
the  first  two  the  sheer  from  bow  to  stern  is  pro- 
nounced ;  in  the  last  of  the  three  it  is  altogether 
vanished.  Some  of  these  craft  have  a  single  main- 
sheet  of  steel  wire  which  is  worked  by  a  hand-gear  from 
aft,  and  some  of  them  have  auxiliary  motors  installed. 

Looking  for  a  moment  at  the  illustration  (Fig. 
91)  containing  only  one  tjalk,  it  will  be  seen 
that  just  below  the  staysail  there  is  a  triangular- 
shaped  arrangement  consisting  of  two  spars.  When 
the  mast  is  lowered  this  gradually  rises  to  its  feet  so 
that  the  apex  points  upwards,  and  it  resembles  the 
letter  A.  At  this  apex  the  forestay  passes  over,  so 
that  an  increased  assistance  is  given  in  the  work  of 
raising  the  mast  when  the  bridge  has  been  passed 
under.      The    mainsail    is    always    loose-footed    and 


292     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

frequently  triced  up,  but  the  gaff,  which  is  seen  to 
be  curved  in  the  case  of  the  smallest  tjalk,  is  straight 
like  our  own  ships  in  the  bigger  ones.  Sometimes 
there  is  a  deck-house  aft,  and  the  skipper  carries 
with  him  his  wife,  his  flaxen-haired  little  daughters, 
and  a  couple  of  his  sons,  who  work  the  ship  between 
them.  You  may  sometimes  find  a  smaller  tjalk  with 
only  the  skipper,  his  wife,  his  little  girl,  and  his  boy 
of  about  ten  or  eleven.  In  a  flat  calm  as  he 
comes  into  Amsterdam  or  along  the  tidal  Maas  into 
Rotterdam  you  may  see  the  little  boy  and  girl  go 
ahead  in  the  ship's  boat  and  endeavour  to  tow  this 
hefty  vessel.  How  they  have  physical  strength  so  to 
do  I  know  not ;  all  I  can  say  is  that  I  have  seen 
them  doing  it. 

The  boat  which  the  smallest  tjalk  (Fig.  91)  is  seen 
to  be  towing  is  typical  of  Holland.  Flat-bottomed, 
with  high  bows  like  a  hotter,  varnished  outside,  with 
a  green  gunwale  and  a  white  stripe,  and  both  bow 
and  stern  alike  saving  for  the  addition  of  some  dead- 
wood  aft  to  make  her  steer  better,  this  is  not  a 
light  craft  but  one  of  the  most  seaworthy  dinghies 
which  time  could  possibly  evolve.  They  are  very 
strong,  and  if  an  English  yachtsman  were  to  add  a 
dagger  plate  they  would  be  as  good  for  sailing, 
rowing,  and  towing  as  the  pram  dinghy.  I  asked  a 
Dutch  shipbuilder  how  they  described  these  craft, 
and  he  told  me  the  name  was  a  "  Boskoop  boot," 
Boskoop  being  a  little  waterside  town  on  the  canal 
between  Gouda  and  Amsterdam.  The  decks  of  the 
tjalk  seem  to  an  Englishman  to  be  encumbered  with 
too  many  quants,  sounding  poles,  and  lengthy  boat- 
hooks.  And  yet  these  are  all  required  where  so  much 
locking  in  and  out  of  a  sluis,  so  much  creeping  over 
short-cuts  infested  with  sand-banks,  so  much  hauling 
along  quays  have  to  be  done  in  the  course  of  the 
voyage.  Nowadays  the  tjalk  is  usually  built  of  iron, 
and  retains  much  of  the  former  shape  which  has  done 


IN    HOLLAND  293 

duty  for  centuries.  But  the  old-fashioned  wooden 
tjalks  are  so  mellow  in  their  appearance,  so  well 
taken  care  of,  so  deserving  of  respect,  that  it  is  to  be 
hoped  that  iron  will  not  utterly  eradicate  them. 

In  the  illustration  (Fig.  93)  will  be  seen  a  sketch 
of  another  very  familiar  Dutch  type.  This  is  the 
klipper,  which  is  a  decidedly  bigger  craft,  longer  and 
proportionately  narrower.     They  sail  well,  are  usually 


Fig.  93. — Dutch  Klipper. 

Usually/ketch-rigged,  built  of  iron,  with  an  enormous  horizontal  steering-wheel 
and  clipper  bows,  these  craft  carry  much  of  the  cargo  from  one  end  of 
Holland  to  the  other. 


ketch-rigged  though  sometimes  cutter-rigged.  Built 
of  iron,  the  larger  craft  have  an  enormous  steering- 
wheel,  which  is  placed  horizontally  and  not  vertically 
as  in  our  ships,  so  that  it  is  possible  immediately  to 
alter  the  large  rudders  even  a  quarter  of  a  point 
when  making  their  voyage  through  the  winding 
rivers  and  canals.  There  is  enormous  space  in  the 
hold  for  the  cargo,  and  a  deck-house  is  placed  aft  for 
the  skipper's  family.     The  bipod  attachment  for  raising 


294     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

the  lowered  mast  that  we  spoke  of  just  now  will  again 
be  seen  to  be  illustrated  at  the  foot  of  the  forestay. 
These  craft  have  a  clipper  bow,  leeboards,  loose-footed 
mainsail,  bowsprit,  jib,  and  staysail,  and  when  rigged 
as  ketches  are  as  seen  in  this  sketch.  For  getting  up 
the  bow-anchor  they  have  a  powerful  capstan  forward 
which  is  worked  by  means  of  the  circular  iron  wheel 
and  handle  just  as  on  a  laundress'  wringing-machine. 
Right  aft,  underneath  the  counter,  there  is  a  hole  in 
which  there  is  a  stockless  anchor.  This  is  sometimes 
let  go  when  running  into  a  crowded  haven  or  lock 
and  the  ship  has  too  much  way  on,  but  is  too  long 
to  luff'  up  in  the  narrow  confines  of  these  waters. 
Frankly,  the  klipper  is  not  a  beautiful  craft ;  she  is 
really  just  a  smaller  edition  of  one  of  those  great 
2000-ton  "  Rhine-schiffs,"  but  is  driven  by  her  own 
sail-power  instead  of  being  towed  by  a  powerful  little 
steam  tug.  There  are  innumerable  winches  on  these 
modern  Dutch  craft  for  the  halyards,  mainsheets,  lee- 
boards, and  anchors,  which  have  brought  the  art  of 
labour-saving  down  to  its  finest  point. 

Most  interesting  is  a  totally  different  species  of 
Dutch  craft  as  seen  in  the  next  two  of  our  illustrations 
(Figs.  94  and  95).  This  is  the  hotter.  In  the  fore- 
ground of  the  sketch  is  one  from  the  Island  of  Urk 
in  the  Zuyder  Zee.  Her  high,  bold  bows  make  her 
ideal  for  combatting  the  nasty,  steep  seas  of  the  Zuyder 
Zee  and  of  the  North  Sea  off*  the  Dutch  coast.  They 
come  on  Mondays  across  the  former  from  the  Islands 
of  Urk  or  Marken,  lock  through  the  Orange  Sluis, 
sail  along  the  Eye  through  Amsterdam,  and  so  out 
through  the  Ymuiden  locks  into  the  North  Sea.  The 
following  Saturday  will  see  them  again  doing  the 
return  journey,  calling  at  Amsterdam  to  take  home 
the  Sunday's  meat  for  their  families.  The  ships  are 
like  their  crews  and  the  latter 's  costumes — old-world 
and  unique.  The  men  are  as  fine  and  stalwart  as 
their  craft,  and,  in  their  own  particular  line  of  sea- 


IN    HOLLAND 


295 


manship,  unsurpassed.  These  craft  seem  usually  to 
be  handled  with  a  crew  of  three,  perhaps  the  father 
and  his  two  sons,  of  whom  the  younger  is  a  Jmere 
boy  in  years  but  has  the  seaman's  instinct  born  and 
bred  in  him  as  it  has  been  in  his  family  for  centuries. 
Manly,  healthy,  clear-skinned,  flaxen  people  in  their 


Fig.  94. — Dutch  Botters. 

These  have  their  home  on  the  Zuyder  Zee,  and  come  from  such  ports 
as  the  Isles  of  Marken  and  Urk. 


baggy  knickerbockers  (much  patched)  and  stockings 
and  wooden  shoes,  there  is  something  singularly 
attractive  about  them.  Usually  their  craft  cruise 
under  staysail  and  main,  the  latter  being  loose-footed 
and  laced  to  the  mast,  and  the  gaff  is  short ;  but 
sometimes  they  run  out  a  bowsprit  and  set  a  jib  as 
well. 


296     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

The  hotter  rarely  ships  any  soHd  water,  even  when 
it  is  blowing  hard  on  the  Zuyder  Zee,  though  she 
throws  up  a  good  deal  of  spray  from  her  high  bows.  A 
noticeable  feature  of  these  craft  is  that  the  mast  is 
stepped  well  aft  and  the  staysail  is  v^ery  big.  From 
the  photograph  (Fig.  95),  which  was  taken  at  Monni- 
kendam,  on  the  Zuyder  Zee,  just  opposite  the  Isle  of 
Marken,  an  excellent  idea  may  be  formed  of  the  deck- 
plan  of  the  hotter.  She  has  a  large  fore-deck  ;  imme- 
diately abaft  this  is  stepped  the  mast,  aft  of  which, 
again,  is  a  very  large  well  for  working  the  nets.  On 
either  side  of  the  ship,  at  the  break  of  the  fore-deck,  is 
installed  a  pump.  Her  leeboards  are  anything  but 
shoe-shaped,  being  quite  narrow  and  small.  Neverthe- 
less, she  goes  to  windward  and  points  nearer  the  wind 
than  one  would  expect.  As  to  size,  these  craft  vary 
from  30  ft.  to  50  ft.  in  length,  and  have  the  whole  of 
their  ballast  inside.  The  danger  of  these  vessels  is  that 
they  sometimes  get  pooped,  when  their  great  open  well 
soon  fills,  and  they  sink.  The  "  hatchet-shaped  "  rudder 
is  very  Dutch-like.  They  are  carvel-built,  and  being 
quite  flat  underneath,  can  take  the  ground  quite  easily 
in  tidal  harbours.  Fitted  with  open  gratings  below  the 
water-line,  the  water  can  be  run  in  and  out  so  as  to  keep 
the  fish  fresh. 

I  have  had  every  opportunity  for  studying  them — 
on  the  slips  for  repairs,  in  harbour,  under-way,  and  have 
examined  them  carefully  on  board — and  it  would  be 
difficult  to  find  a  better  type  of  craft  for  the  work  they 
are  called  upon  to  perform.  Some  of  the  Dutch 
sportsmen  have  had  their  yachts  built  on  these  models, 
in  which  case  they  are  decked  in  all  over  with  a  fine 
ample  cabin,  a  forecastle  (under  the  fore-deck),  and  cock- 
pit. I  have  seen  them  turning  to  windward  out  of  a 
very  narrow  harbour  (as,  for  instance,  Scheveningen), 
and  noted  how  handy  they  are  under  merely  main-  and 
stay-sail.  There  is  a  powerful  but  simple  winch  fore- 
ward  just  as  it  was  in  the  sixteenth  century,  with  a 


Fig-  95- 


Isle  of  Marken  Botters 


r.  -I'M 


The  large  foredeck  of  these  craft  helps  to  keep  them  dry  and  a  very  large  well  abaft  the  mast 
gives  plenty  of  room  for  their  nets. 


Fig.  96. 


HooGARTs  Fishing  Fleet 


Notice  the  large  amount  of  "drift"  between  the  mast  and  the  throat  of  the  spritsail 
on  the  hoogarts  to  the  right  of  the  picture.  The  craft  to  the  left  near  the  man  is 
more  modern  and  has  a  mainsail  with  boom  and  gaff.     (See  also  Eigs.  99  and  100.) 


^^ 


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< 


IN   HOLLAND 


297 


great  wooden  drum  worked  by  handspikes  and  pro- 
vided with  pawls. 

The  schokker  is  a  modified  hotter,  but  bigger,  and 
an  excellent  sea-boat.  As  will  be  seen  from  the  sketch 
in  Fig.  98,  she  has  a  cleft  in  her  stem-head,  in  which 
she  [stows  her  anchor,  usually  a  grapnel.     The  stem- 


FiG.  98.— Dutch  Schokkeks. 
The  cleft  in  the  stem-head  for  the  grapnel  anchor  is  very  characteristic. 


post  comes  down  to  the  keel  at  an  angle  of  about  forty- 
five  degrees,  and  the  keel  is  straight  and  long.  The 
method  of  coating  the  foresail,  as  illustrated,  is  quite  a 
peculiarity  of  Holland.  The  air  is  able  to  get  from 
underneath,  but  the  cover  keeps  off  the  rain,  and  looks 
rather  like  a  gigantic  candle-snuffer.     This  idea  is  not 


298     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

peculiar  to  the  schokker,  but  is  employed  on  many  other 
kinds  of  Dutch  craft. 

The  hoogarts  are  practically  small  schokkers.  In 
many  a  respect  they  are  ideal  shallow-draught  craft. 
They  are  rigged  with  extreme  simplicity,  and  they  are 
wonderfully  handy.  Most  of  them  are  rigged  with  a 
spritsail,  but  some  are  rigged  as  sloops.  Their  real 
home  is  the  Island  of  Walcheren,  especially  at  Flush- 
ing, the  fishing  harbour  of  which  on  a  Saturday  is  full 
of  these,  as  two  of  the  illustrations  (Figs.  96  and  99) 
will  show.  They  are  flat-bottomed,  and  the  way  these 
craft  turn  to  windward  up  the  Walcheren  Canal  past 
Middleburg  to  the  picturesque  and  quaint  little  haven 
at  Veere  is  an  inspiriting  sight.  Single-handed,  there 
may  be  a  couple  of  them  tacking  together,  and  being 
excellent  sportsmen,  each  skipper  races  right  into  the 
very  lock  entrance  to  get  there  first.  Then,  not  content 
with  that,  he  endeavours  to  get  his  craft  out  first  as 
soon  as  the  gates  open  the  other  side,  and  away  they 
go,  tack  and  tack,  with  a  yard  or  so  to  separate  them. 
Handy  as  a  small  rater,  their  work  takes  them  outside, 
where  a  rater  would  not  live  for  many  minutes,  and  it 
is  a  fine  sight  to  see  the  fleet  running  home  before  a 
fair  wind  into  Flushing  from  the  sea. 

Their  vocation  is  connected  with  the  mussel-fishery, 
and  they  are  fitted  up  as  follows.  There  is  a  fore-deck, 
which  comes  as  far  aft  as  the  mast.  Then  there  is  an 
open  well,  in  which  there  is  placed  a  large  stove,  appar- 
ently for  boiling  the  mussels.  Aft  of  this  comes  the 
cabin,  with  a  bunk  on  either  side  and  a  hatch  above. 
Then  follows  an  open  cockpit,  across  which  is  a  horse 
for  the  mainsheet  to  work  on.  The  staysail  also  works 
on  an  iron  horse.  The  sketch  (Fig.  100)  is  from  a 
model  that  was  put  together  by  one  of  the  guild  of  men 
who  build  these  hoogarts ;  it  may  therefore  be  regarded 
as  correct.  Taken  in  conjunction  with  the  photographs 
it  will  afford  an  accurate  idea  of  these  very  interesting 
vessels.     It  has  been  suggested  that  these  little  craft 


some  tlrries 
rioQed  -ttTEis 


5ketch  at      "  -  ^—^^ 
t^iddlebcira. 


Fig.  100.— Hoogarts  op  Walcheeen. 


300    THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

would  make  ideal  boats,  if  slightly  modified,  for  those 
English  yachtsmen  addicted  to  "  ditch- crawling,"  though 
the  sloop  would  be  preferred  to  the  sprit-rig.  All  these 
craft,  without  exception,  carry  weather-vanes  at  the 
masthead,  and  have  the  hatchet-shaped  rudders  with 
helms  that  unship. 

It  is  very  curious  to  notice  that  in  the  case  of  the 
sprit-rigged  hoogarts  there  is  a  bracket  of  iron,  shaped 
something  like  a  magnet,  which  extends  from  the  mast, 
to  which  the  throat  of  the  sail  is  lashed.  This  will  be 
observed  in  the  accompanying  photographs.  Thus, 
instead  of  the  leach  of  the  sail  being  quite  close  to  the 
mast,  as  we  in  this  country  are  accustomed  to  find,  there 
is  quite  a  considerable  "  drift."  This  will  be  well  seen  in 
the  sketch  of  the  model.  Inside  the  hull  there  is  no 
lining,  but,  as  in  the  case  of  the  hotter,  the  timbers 
are  all  showing. 

There  is  but  one  brailing-line  and  there  are  two 
vangs,  but  neither  shrouds  nor  runners ;  and  this  fact 
gives  us  furiously  to  think  who  have  always  been 
accustomed  to  such  supports.  They  carry  both  jib  and 
foresail,  the  latter  having  at  its  head  a  tiny  yard,  and 
when  this  foresail  is  stowed  it  is  rolled  round  and  round 
itself  till  it  looks  as  if  it  had  some  sort  of  modern  patent 
reefing-gear,  though  of  course  it  has  no  such  thing. 
But  this  method  is  one  of  the  oldest  Dutch  character- 
istics, as  may  be  seen  from  examining  some  of  the 
pictures  by  the  old  Dutch  masters.  The  hoogarts  is 
clinker-built,  has  easy  and  graceful  lines,  and  a  good 
deal  of  tumble-home.  The  bowsprit  has  no  shrouds 
whatsoever,  nor  bobstay,  nor  has  she  always  a  forestay. 
In  fact,  one  begins  to  wonder  how  ever  any  of  her  spars 
are  supported,  until  one  realises  that  the  sprit  and  its 
vangs  must  be  taken  into  account.  When  in  harbour 
the  hoogarts  has  its  jib  lashed  to  the  bowsprit,  in  readi- 
ness for  getting  under  way  again. 

The  heel  of  the  sprit  is  kept  to  the  mast  by  a  lashing 
of  rope,  and  there  is  another  lashing  higher  up  to  keep 


IN   HOLLAND  301 

the  throat  to  the  "  magnet."  To  prevent  chafing,  there 
is  a  copper  sheathing  round  the  mast  at  the  latter  place, 
the  peak  of  the  sprit  reaching  about  as  high  as  the  truck 
of  the  mast.  These  craft  of  course  carry  leeboards, 
and  their  bows  have  a  good  deal  of  overhang,  as  in  the 
schokker.  Like  the  latter,  they  also  frequently  carry  a 
grapnel-anchor,  so  as  to  give  a  better  hold  in  mud  than 
the  ordinary  pattern.  The  topsail  seen  in  the  sketch  is 
very  old-fashioned,  and  reminiscent  of  a  bygone  age. 
This  sail  also  exhibits  the  former  affection  of  the  Dutch 
sailor-man  for  the  diminutive  yard  we  spoke  about 
just  now. 

AVe  come  now  to  the  boier,  which  originally  was 
not  a  fishing-craft,  but  a  cargo-carrier  and  yacht.  In 
the  sketch  (Fig.  101)  will  be  seen  a  reproduction  of  a 
fine  little  model  preserved  in  the  Rijks  Museum.  The 
shoe-shaped  leeboards  are  not  a  bit  exaggerated.  The 
very  small  gaff,  the  mast  stepped  in  a  tabernacle,  the 
curved  ensign-staff,  the  forestay  ending  in  a  deadeye 
and  spreaders  that  are  made  fast  through  the  stem- 
head,  the  single  shrouds  at  either  side  of  the  mast,  the 
great  horse  for  the  mainsheet,  the  raised  stern,  and 
the  bold,  curved  rudder — these  are  all  typical  of  their 
nationality,  with  the  large  streamer  at  the  top  to  crown 
all.  The  boier  is  one  of  the  oldest,  if  not  the  very 
oldest,  of  all  the  types  of  Dutch  craft.  To-day  the 
type  is  perpetuated  by  a  large  number  of  boier  yachts 
possessed  by  the  Dutch  sportsmen.  In  fact,  there  are 
more  Dutch  yachts  of  this  type  than  of  any  other. 
They  are  small,  little  ships,  apparently  about  twenty-five 
feet  over  all,  with  cabins,  varnished  hulls,  and  a  lavish 
display  of  gold  paint,  especially  at  the  stern.  They  are 
eminently  suitable  for  inland  cruising,  but  after  watch- 
ing a  good  many  of  them  cruising  and  racing  at  regatta- 
time,  I  am  not  convinced  that  they  are  anything  but 
slow.  Their  chief  charm  to  an  Englishman  must  lie  in 
their  historic  interest,  for,  like  the  hoogarts,  they  carry 
one  instantly  back  into  bygone  centuries.     The  repro- 


Fig.  101.— Dutch  Boier. 
From  a  model  in  the  Rijks  Museum. 


Fig.   102. 


OsTEND  Fishing  Smack 


Notice  the  result  of  the  influence  of  the  British  North  Sea  Fishing 
Smacks  on  this  type  of  cr.ift. 


Fig-.  103. 


Modern  Boier  V.vchts 


p.  .303 


From  a  photograph  taken  in  Amsterdam  at  Reeatta  time  on  Queen  Wilhelmina's  birthday. 
(See  also  Fig.  101.) 


THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     303 


duction  of  a  modern  boier  yacht  (Fig.  103)  is  from 
a  photograph  taken  at  regatta-time  at  Amsterdam  on 
the  occasion  of  Queen  Wilhehnina's  birthday,  but  these 
craft  are  to  be  seen  in  many  a  port  of  Holland  and  Fries- 
land.  Some  of  them  nowadays  have  an  iron  bumpkin 
projecting  forward  of  the  bows,  so  as  to  be  able  to  set 


Fig.  105.— Zuydek  Zee  Kub-Boats, 
The  rig  consists  of  foresail  and  triangular  mainsail, 

a  larger  foresail,  but  others  even  add  a  bowsprit  and 
carry  a  jib. 

There  is  a  funny  little  example  of  the  fore-and-aft 
craft  which  I  have  seen  nowhere  else  than  on  the 
Zuyder  Zee.  The  natives  call  her  a  "  kub-boot,"  and 
some  idea  of  her  appearance  may  be  seen  from  the 
sketch  which  is  here  reproduced  in  Fig.  105.     The  boat 


304    THE   MODERN  FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

itself  is  certainly,  considering  its  size,  a  plucky  kind  of 
craft,  and  the  rig  consists  of  a  mast  with  foresail  and  a 
triangular  mainsail  which  is  hoisted,  of  course,  by  a 
single  halyard,  the  lufF  of  the  sail  being  kept  to  the 
mast  by  means  of  lacing.  It  is  loose-footed,  and  there 
is  a  good  deal  of  space  between  the  boom  itself  and  the 
foot  of  the  sail.  The  little  ship  has  leeboards  like  her 
bigger  sisters.  Practically  this  is  a  trysail,  but  it  is  a 
definite  and  regular  rig  which  may  be  seen  in  Monni- 
kendam.  The  great  advantage  which  it  possesses  lies 
in  the  fact  that  it  can  instantly  be  lowered  by  slacking 
off  the  lacing  and  letting  go  the  halyard. 

Speaking  of  the  Deal  galley  in  our  previous  chapter 
one  was  reminded  that  at  Flushing  there  is  a  foreign 
counterpart  of  this  type  of  open  sailing-craft.  Perhaps 
there  are  few  spots  in  the  world  which  contain  so  many 
pilots  as  this  little  town.  Side  by  side  along  the  sea- 
front  are  two  club-houses  where  a  ceaseless  look-out  is 
kept,  the  one  being  for  the  Dutch,  the  other  for  the 
Belgian  pilots — loodsxvezen  is  the  Dutch  word  for  our 
English  "  pilotage,  "  loods  "  being  a  pilot.  Originally 
the  loods  was  the  man  who  hove  the  lead,  and  thus 
navigated  the  ship  safely  through  the  intricate  channels, 
for  the  Dutch  equivalent  for  the  word  lead  is  lood. 
Now  for  putting  out  from  the  shore  to  a  ship  bound  up 
to  Antwerp,  a  "  loodssloepe  "  is  employed,  and  this  craft 
is  practically  the  Deal  lugger.  In  hull  she  is  very  like 
her,  and  has  both  length  and  freeboard  to  make  her 
able  to  encounter  the  choppy  waters  of  the  Schelde, 
where  the  tides  are  exceedingly  strong  and  a  consider- 
able sea  soon  gets  up  when  wind  is  against  tide. 
These  "  sloepes  "  are  rigged  with  a  lugsail  on  the  mast 
which  is  stepped  about  amidships.  At  the  extreme 
stern  a  small  mizzen  is  stepped,  practically  the  whole 
of  that  sail  being  outboard,  the  sail  being  sheeted  home 
with  the  assistance  of  an  outrigger,  though  not  raked 
at  the  high  angle  possessed  by  the  Cornish  luggers. 

The  reader  will  recollect  that  we  referred  some  time 


IN   HOLLAND 


305 


back  to  the  matter  of  the  Una-rig,  and  besides  mention- 
ing the  fact  that  the  earHest  fore-and-aft  rig  in  England 
was  such,  we  went  on  to  refer  to  the  present-day  rig  of 
the  Norfolk  wherry  and  of  the  American  cat-boat. 
Now  in  Holland  there  is  still  in  use  the  Dutch  equi- 


FiG.  106.— Modern  Dutch  Una-Rig. 
Seen  on  the  River  Amstel  near  Amsterdam. 


valent  for  this  species  of  a  fore-and-after.  The  sketch 
in  Fig.  106  was  made  of  a  vessel  seen  on  the  river 
Amstel  a  few  miles  south  of  Amsterdam.  There  is 
no  headsail  of  any  kind,  and  the  mast  must  necessarily 
be  stepped  a  long  way  forward.     The  sail  is  laced  to 

u 


306     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

the  mast  in  the  usual  Dutch  fashion,  and  the  vessel 
also  carries  leeboards.  I  have  never  seen  one  of  these 
craft  except  when  running  free,  so  cannot  say  how  well 
she  goes  to  windward.  In  length  the  boat  here  shown 
would  seem  to  be  somewhere  about  28  ft.  over  all, 
and  there  is  a  cabin  right  aft  for  the  skipper  and  his 
family.  They  sail  quite  well  before  the  wind  and  are 
not  slow,  but  of  course  their  special  virtues  are  con- 
fined to  the  suitability  for  inland  navigation. 

One  may  wonder  how  many  visitors  to  the  Hague 
and  Scheveningen,  with  the  latter's  cosmopolitan 
crowd  and  its  crude  modern  pleasure  palaces,  ever 
stop  to  examine  those  curious  old  craft  which  are 
found  on  its  beach  and  in  its  harbour.  These  pinks 
are  indeed  the  most  interesting  features  of  the  place, 
possessing  a  history  of  their  own  and  a  conservatism 
that  is  unique  even  in  conservative  Holland.  But  to 
the  casual  tourist  these  weather-worn  craft  may  not 
seem  sufficiently  attractive  to  be  worth  even  a  glance, 
and  the  harbour  is  at  the  other  end  of  the  sea-front, 
some  distance  away  from  the  noisy  crowd.  Some  of 
the  modern  Dutch  painters,  like  their  predecessors, 
never  weary  of  depicting  these  fisher-craft  in  all 
weathers,  and  frequently  in  storms  running  back  to 
the  Scheveningen  beach. 

To  understand  these  weird,  beamy  objects  one 
must  first  realise  the  objects  for  which  they  were 
built.  Off  Scheveningen  the  water  is  somewhat 
shallow  for  some  distance  out  from  the  shore,  and  it 
is  notorious  that  in  even  a  moderate  on-shore  wind  the 
seas  get  very  bad.  The  pink  puts  forth  to  sea  and 
expects  to  ride  out  this  weather  to  her  nets.  The  first 
aim  in  building  her  is  to  make  her  of  enormous 
strength,  and  speed  is  altogether  out  of  the  question. 
When  she  has  finished  her  fishing  she  sails  back  to  the 
beach  about  high  tide,  and  then  takes  the  ground,  and 
gradually  the  tide  leaves  her  high  and  dry.  The  beach 
is  all  sand,   but  in   bad  weather  there  is,  naturally,  a 


IN   HOLLAND 


307 


good  deal  of  bumping  before  the  vessel  definitely 
settles  down.  It  is  for  this  reason  that  the  pink  (Fig. 
107)  is  built  so  stoutly.  The  sea  may  continually  pick 
her  up  and  drop  her  down  again,  yet  she  can  endure 


Fig.  107.— Scheveningen  Pinks. 
They  are  exactly  two  beams  to  their  length  and  remarkably  strong. 


all  that.  She  is  "given  also  a  very  broad  keel,  and  in 
general  is  so  designed  that  she  can  take  the  ground 
with  ease.  Contrariwise,  she  is  also  given  such  lines 
by  her  keel  that  she  will  float  as  quickly  as  possible, 


308     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

and  be  able  to  get  off  to  her  work  when  a  few  feet  of 
water  have  risen. 

Now  that  the  harbour  at  Scheveningen  has  been 
made  what  it  is,  one  may  find  alongside  its  quays 
quite  big  editions  of  these  craft,  but  even  then  they 
are  still  built  with  an  amount  of  beam  that  is  almost 
incredible  to  eyes  that  have  been  accustomed  to  other 
craft.  Let  it  be  said  at  once  that  the  pink  is  only 
twice  as  long  as  she  is  wide,  and  looking  at  her  for  the 
first  time  you  would  say  she  was  just  an  oblong  box 
designed  by  a  madman.  Clinker-built,  she  is  sloop- 
rigged  with  mainsail,  jib,  and  foresail.  Her  bluff 
bows  are  bluffer  than  anything  else  in  Holland.  Pinks 
measure  40  ft.  long  and  20  ft.  wide,  being  12  ft.  deep. 
It  is  important  to  remember  that  these  dimensions 
are  fixed  and  immutable.  They  have  leeboards,  of 
course,  and  the  inevitable  vane  at  their  masthead.  In 
very  fine  weather  they  carry  a  narrow  topsail,  and 
sail  straight  on  to  the  beach  with  everything  up,  and 
wait  till  the  tide  ebbs.  Like  certain  other  types  of 
Dutch  craft,  these  pinks  have  frequently  no  bobstay  to 
their  bowsprit. 

Frankly  the  pink  does  not  appeal  to  one  as  in  any 
way  a  beautiful  craft.  It  is  because  of  her  antiquity 
and  her  natural  eccentricities,  her  ability  to  stand  so 
much  knocking  and  buffeting  about,  that  she  is  deserv- 
ing of  so  much  interest.  The  furthest  south  I  have 
seen  the  pink  was  in  the  new  Belgian  harbour  of  Zee- 
brugge,  a  few  miles  north  of  Ostend  ;  but  there  is  a 
variation  of  the  Scheveningen  type  a  few  miles  north  of 
this  Dutch  resort  at  Katwijk,  although  Scheveningen, 
which  has  been  famous  throughout  the  history  of  Hol- 
land for  its  herring-fisheries,  has  ever  been  the  home  of 
the  pink.  In  the  sketch  which  is  reproduced  in  Fig. 
108  will  be  seen  the  Katwijk  "  pom,"  as  she  is  called. 
This  represents  an  interesting  model  which  was  recently 
added  to  the  collection  in  the  Rijks  Museum.  Although 
she  is  a  bigger  craft  and  rigged  as  a  yawl  rather  than  a 


IN   HOLLAND 


309 


sloepe,  with  three  headsails  instead  of  two ;  although 
the  hnes  of  the  hull  are  slightly  finer  than  in  the  pure 
pink  of  Scheveningen,  yet,  for  all  that,  any  one  can  see 
the  Scheveningen  influence  written  large  all  over  her. 
The  crutch  for  the  lowered  mainmast,  the  leeboards, 
the    general    design    of    the    hull,    the    rudder,    the 


Fig.  108.— Katwijk-Pom. 

This  is  a  somewhat  larger  edition  of  the  Scheveningen  pink,  and  hails  from 
the  port  of  Katwijk,  a  few  miles  north  of  Scheveningen. 


streamers  at  the  masthead,  and  so  on,  indicate  the 
near  relationship.  There  is  a  very  powerful  capstan 
with  handspikes  on  the  deck  for  getting  in  the  nets, 
for  these  Dutch  vessels,  unlike  the  British  North  Sea 
fishing-craft,  do  not  carry  a  boiler  for  getting  in  the 
nets   by  steam-power.      That    same  interesting   little 


310     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

feature  to  which  we  called  attention  just  now  when 
considering  the  boier,  namely,  the  deadeye  and  the 
spreaders  coming  down  into  the  stem-post,  will  also  be 
observed  in  this  Katwijk  pom. 

And  so  we  leave  Holland  in  our  southward  trend, 
and  pass  to  the  other  side  of  the  Schelde  into  Belgium. 
As  far  south  as  Blankenberghe  the  pink  influence  is  still 
felt.  It  is  a  sandy  coast,  with  dunes  and  coarse  grass 
stretching  away  as  far  south  as  Calais  where  the  cliffs 
begin.  But  at  Ostend,  because  the  craft  are  no  longer 
beached  and  have  a  good  deep  harbour  to  enter,  a 
totally  different  type  of  craft  obtains  ;  different,  that  is 
to  say,  on  the  one  hand  from  the  Dutch  vessels,  and  on 
the  other  from  those  of  France.  In  the  photograph 
(Fig.  102)  will  be  seen  one  of  the  Ostend  fishing  fleet, 
and  instantly  it  will  be  observed  that  this  resembles  the 
Ramsgate  and  Yarmouth  smacks  more  than  anything 
on  the  Continent.  The  rig,  the  bows,  and  the  general 
lines  of  the  hull  proclaim  English  rather  than  Dutch  or 
French  influence.  Only  the  rounded  quarters  show 
the  proximity  of  Holland.  But  if  we  were  to  go 
aboard  the  Ostend  steam  trawlers  we  should  find  that 
in  practically  every  instance  the  build  was  British  and 
the  county  Yorkshire.  With  the  exception  of  Ostend, 
however,  we  have  done  with  either  Dutch  or  British 
influence  for  the  present. 

We  pass  into  the  sphere  of  the  lugger,  into  the 
influence  of  France.  It  is  perfectly  true  that  to-day 
the  old  French  lugger  is  fast  disappearing  and  giving 
way  to  the  British  ketch-rigged  type  of  craft  which 
Brixham,  Ramsgate,  Yarmouth,  and  Lowestoft  have 
developed.  But  nevertheless  there  are  still  many  large 
fleets  of  luggers  along  the  coast  of  the  continent  that 
touches  the  North  Sea  and  the  English  Channel,  and  in 
the  next  two  designs  (Figs.  104  and  109)  will  be  seen 
the  plans  of  a  Belgian  lugger.  This  is  one  of  the 
smaller  trawlers  which  run  out  from  Dunkirk.  As 
we  regard  this  craft  with  its  mizzen,  main,  maintopsail. 


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312     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

foresail,  and  small  jib,  we  have  the  identical  rig  which 
France  made  so  popular  in  the  eighteenth  century,  and 
was  destined  to  be  employed  so  much  by  the  privateers- 
men  and  smugglers.  Originally,  of  course,  there  was 
no  jib ;  that  is  really  but  a  later  addition.  Neverthe- 
less, in  spite  of  this  the  foremast  will  be  seen  still 
stepped  in  its  original  place,  right  as  far  forward  as 
ever  it  could  be  placed.  These  craft,  in  spite  of  their 
curious  appearance  to  British  eyes,  must  not  be  despised. 
They  look  crazy  to  us,  and  perhaps  their  crew  do  not 
keep  them  as  smart  and  clean  as  one  might  wish ;  but 
for  all  that  they  possess  the  qualities  of  speed,  as  the 
English  Revenue-cutters  used  to  find  to  their  cost 
many  years  ago.  The  lines  of  the  hull  show  rather  a 
box-like  craft,  with  flat  floor  and  wall-sided.  In  length 
this  type  of  Belgian  lugger  works  out  at  between  forty 
and  fifty  feet.  In  accordance  with  the  old-fashioned 
custom  of  fishermen  the  masts  rake  aft  a  good  deal, 
and  especially  is  this  so  in  the  case  of  the  main. 

Some  idea  of  the  Dunkirk  type  of  ketch  may  be 
seen  from  the  design  which  is  given  (Figs.  Ill  and  112). 
These  craft  have  a  total  length  over  all  of  26  metres, 
and  they  also  have  very  flat  floors,  though  not  quite 
so  wall-sided,  and  have  a  little  tumble-home.  This 
Dunkirk  ketch  goes  far  away  from  her  home  waters 
to  fish  for  cod  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Iceland.  Her 
main  and  mizzen  are  both  loose-footed,  and  she  carries 
a  topsail  over  the  former.  With  her  rig,  her  straight 
stem  and  straight  keel,  she  is  in  many  respects  similar 
to  the  older  type  of  the  Ramsgate  trawler. 

An  excellent  instance  of  a  Gravelines  lugger  may 
also  here  be  seen  in  Figs.  110  and  113.  As  you  look 
at  her  sail-plan  you  can  see  how  old-fashioned  she  is, 
how  close  akin  to  those  days  before  the  lugsail  began 
its  regime  in  French  waters  when  the  fishing  buss-ships 
were  three-masted  square-sail  craft.  For  look,  as  an 
example,  at  the  mainsail.  It  is  nearly  the  shape  of 
the  old  square- sail  rather  than  of  the  modern  lug.     It 


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THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG     315 

has  been  hauled  down  by  the  tack  so  that  the  fore  part 
of  the  yard  comes  down,  and  the  after  part  is  peaked 
up.  We  can  indeed  observe  most  clearly  from  this 
how  the  transition  from  the  square-sail  began.  You 
still  witness  this  type  of  craft  putting  to  sea  from 
Gravelines,  or  sailing  about  somewhere  between  the 
Dyck  Lightship  and  Ostend.  But  it  is  fast  dis- 
appearing, and  is  being  replaced  by  the  more  modern 
craft  which  are  ketch-rigged.  It  is  because  the  Grave- 
lines  and  Dunkirk  craft  frequent  the  Dogger  Bank, 
where  aLo  our  British  fishing  fleets  congregate,  that 
the  influence  of  Ramsgate  and  Yarmouth  has  begun  to 
be  felt.  This  fact  is  even  more  noticeable  in  the  design 
of  the  Boulogne  herring-drifter  seen  in  Figs.  114  and 
115.  Notice  that  she  very  much  resembles  the  Lowes- 
toft drifter  by  being  ketch-rigged,  by  having  her 
mizzen-mast  stepped  leaning  forward,  by  having  no 
boom  to  her  mainsail,  and  by  carrying  a  topsail  over 
her  mizzen. 

These  Boulogne  craft  also  are  engaged  in  fishing  for 
mackerel  during  the  summer  with  drift-nets.  They 
pursue  the  herring  on  the  coast  of  Scotland  and  in  the 
North  Sea.  It  is  because  they  have  to  encounter  a 
good  deal  of  weather  and  sail  long  distances,  even  as 
far  as  Ireland,  that  they  are  made  of  good  size  and 
strength.  They  can  do  their  ten  knots  an  hour  with  a 
fair  wind,  and  are  a  great  improvement  on  the  older 
type  of  French  lugger.  In  this  craft  there  is  no  neces- 
sity for  the  great  capstan  that  we  saw  in  the  Katwijk 
pom,  for  they  have  copied  the  English  North  Sea  fishing 
fleets  altogether  by  having  steam  capstans  installed  in 
the  newer  type  for  the  purpose  of  hauling  in  their  nets. 
Such  a  craft  as  this  measures  about  34*  15  metres  over 
all,  29 '30  metres  on  the  water-line,  and  27'66  metres 
on  the  keel.  They  are  good  sea-boats,  and  no  one  can 
regret  that  the  French  have  returned  the  compliment 
of  learning  from  us  who,  in  previous  times,  learnt  so 
much  from  them  in  matters  of  naval  architecture  and 


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320     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

rig.     Dunkirk,  Gravelines,  and  Boulogne  all  bear  wit- 
ness to  this  fact. 

But  as  representative  of  the  old-fashioned  type  of 
chasse-maree  we  could  wish  for  no  clearer  example  than 
the  fishing-craft  of  the  Bay  of  St.  Malo,  of  which  the 
designs  are  here  given  (Figs.  116  and  117).  These  craft 
are  engaged  in  trawling  and  mackerel  line-fishing,  and 
the  same  kind  of  boats  are  found  at  Cancale  and  of  the 
same  rig.  These,  as  well  as  those  belonging  to  the 
Bay  of  St.  Brieuc,  are  all  known  as  bisquines,  but  the 
bisquines  of  St.  Brieuc  are  not  so  crowded  with  sails. 
The  bisquine  came  to  this  part  of  the  world  with  the 
Basques,  as  the  name  suggests.  The  foremast  of  these 
vessels  is,  as  we  pointed  out  in  another  species  of  French 
lugger,  stepped  right  forward,  the  main  being  about 
midships  and  raking  aft  at  a  considerable  angle,  but 
the  mizzen  is  only  rarely  used.  The  bowsprit  carries  a 
large,  low  jib  which  is  hauled  right  out.  As  to  the 
sails  of  the  three  masts,  these  are  standing-lugs,  one 
being  hoisted  to  starboard  and  the  other  to  port,  as  will 
be  seen.  A  large  square-headed  topsail,  and  sometimes 
two,  can  be  hoisted  above  the  lugs.  The  lines  of  these 
bisquines  are  fine,  and  the  scantling  is  exceedingly 
strong  and  heavy,  for,  like  the  pinks,  they  have  to  take 
the  ground  at  low  water,  the  range  of  the  tide  being 
something  like  forty  feet.  But  for  this  great  strength 
the  craft  would  be  bumped  to  pieces  on  the  sands  as 
the  tide  fell.  They  sail  remarkably  well,  especially 
when  the  wind  is  on  the  quarter,  and  are  very  stiff. 
They  measure  about  17 '70  metres  over  all,  and  carry 
large  crews. 

A  handy  type  of  small  lugger  (Figs.  118  and  119) 
is  seen  in  the  fishing-craft  of  Equihen,  near  Boulogne. 
These  are  decked  in  and  fitted  with  a  centre-board, 
which  is  of  the  sliding  and  not  of  the  revolving  type. 
There  is  a  large  lug  for  the  main  and  a  smaller  one  for 
the  mizzen.  This  craft  carries  also  a  long  bowsprit, 
well  steeved,  on  which  she  sets  a  jib.     At  the  stern^ 


IN   FRANCE 


321 


like  the  Cornish  higgers  she  has  an  outrigger,  also 
steeved,  for  the  sheet  of  the  mizzen.  The  hull  of 
the  little  vessel  has  a  nice  sheer,  and  well  she  needs 
this  and  the  protection  of  her  deck  ;  for  in  this  neigh- 


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Fig.  120.— Sardine  Fishing-Lugger  of  the  Coast  of  Brittany. 
She  measures  roughly  10  metres  in  length  over  all. 


bourhood  the  tides  are  notoriously  strong,  and  the 
amount  of  sea  that  a  westerly  wind  can  raise  against 
a  west -going  tide  is  as  bad  as  any  small  craft  can  do 
with.     In  the  lines  of  the  hull  it  will  be  seen  that  she 


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324     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

is  flat-floored  like  most  of  the  French  craft,  and  that 
the  centre-board  is  placed  well  forward.  These  craft 
measure  about  lO'lO  metres  over  all,  and  8*90  metres 
on  the  water-line. 

Every  one  knows  how  throughout  history  the  Bretons 
have  been  famous  as  sailors,  perhaps  one  might  say  as 
the  most  famous  of  all  the  French  seafaring  men, 
whether  as  pirates,  privateers,  fishermen,  or  as  crews 
of  the  men-of-war  of  France.  In  illustration,  p.  321 
(Fig.  120),  we  give  the  sail-plan  of  a  Breton  sardine 
boat,  such  as  is  found  in  Douarnenez  and  Concarneau. 
They  measure  roughly  10  metres  over  all  in  length, 
and  have  a  total  sail-area  of  68  square  metres, 
the  foresail  being  30  square  metres  in  area,  and  the 
mizzen  38.  In  the  foregoing  plans  (Figs.  121  and 
122)  will  be  seen  another  type  of  the  sardine  craft. 
These  belong  chiefly  to  the  port  of  Les  Sables  d'Olonne 
in  the  Vendee.  Like  the  previously  mentioned  craft, 
they  are  engaged  almost  exclusively  in  fishing  for 
sardines  by  means  of  drift-nets.  It  should  be  added 
that  in  a  fresh  breeze  the  Douarnenez  craft  sail  under 
foresail  and  a  small  mizzen.  So  also  the  Vendeenne 
craft,  under  similar  conditions  of  wind,  sail  with  fore- 
sail and  mizzen,  but  with  the  mainmast  lowered.  They 
have  a  total  sail-area  of  68*30  square  metres.  It  will 
be  seen  that  in  the  general  rig,  the  old-fashioned  top- 
sails and  the  jib,  they  are  entirely  influenced  by  the 
national  craft  and  rig  of  France,  viz.  the  chasse- 
mar^e. 

From  the  lines  of  the  hull  (Fig.  122)  it  will  be 
observed  that  the  stern-post  rakes  aft  at  a  great  angle. 
These  craft  measure  about  8*50  metres  over  all,  and 
7*48  metres  on  the  water-line,  their  extreme  beam 
being  2*98  metres,  and  they  draw  1*30  metres  of 
water. 

In  the  evil-smelling  port  of  St.  Malo  there  is  a 
wealth  of  historical  incident  lying  concealed  in  its 
shipping.     In  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  the  port 


326     THE    MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

whence  the  numerous  privateers  embarked  for  the  pur- 
pose of  seizing  the  merchant  vessels  of  England,  and 
it  is  from  here  that  those  big  sailing-ships  still  set 
forth,  as  they  have  done  for  many  a  generation,  to 
cross  the  broad  Atlantic  and  engage  in  cod-fishing  off 
the  Newfoundland  Banks.  Every  one  who  has  read 
Kipling's  Captains  Coui'ageous  will  remember  something 
about  these  French  ships,  and  those  who  have  visited 
St.  Malo  will  have  realised  the  depth  of  sentiment 
aroused  each  year  as  these  ships  start  off  from  their 
home  port  for  their  long,  solitary  exile — perhaps  to 
return,  perhaps  to  be  run  down  by  some  ocean  grey- 
hound hurrying  on  through  the  Atlantic  fog.  There 
are  more  collisions  and  disasters  off  the  Grand  Banks 
than  ever  get  into  the  papers,  and  many  a  home  in 
St.  Malo  has  been  bereft  of  its  father  and  sons. 

In  the  illustration  (Figs.  123  and  126)  will  be  seen 
one  of  the  St.  Malo  barquentines  which  go  out  to  the 
Grand  Banks.  "  Terreneuviers  "  they  designate  these 
craft  in  France,  and  there  are  similar  vessels  which 
also  put  forth  from  Cancale,  Granville,  and  Fecamp. 
When  they  arrive  off  the  fishing  grounds  the  vessels 
anchor,  and  the  fishing  is  done  from  dories  with  long 
lines ;  and  as  Kipling's  or  Connolly's  readers  are  aware, 
the  dories  sometimes  get  so  far  separated  in  fogs  or 
gales  of  wind  that  they  are  never  picked  up  again, 
and  the  men  either  die  of  starvation  and  exhaustion 
or  are  mercifully  drowned  or  run  down  by  a  steamship. 
This  kind  of  craft  measures  43'15  metres  long  and 
39-35  metres  on  the  water-line,  with  an  extreme  beam 
of  8*72  metres. 

The  two-masted  schooner  which  is  next  to  be  con- 
sidered (Figs.  124  and  128)  is  also  French.  She,  too, 
is  engaged  in  the  fishing  industry,  but  she  has  not  so 
far  to  wander  as  the  St.  Malo  craft.  True  she  is  a 
Breton,  but  she  voyages  to  Iceland  after  the  cod. 
Besides  her  lower  canvas  she  carries  a  square  topsail 
on  her  fore  and  a  jib-headed  topsail  on  her  main,  with 


2   -5 


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328     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

a  staysail  in  between,  her  total  sail-area  amounting  to 
428 "60  square  metres.  Her  sail-plan  has,  however, 
been  since  slightly  reduced  in  the  case  of  the  craft 
before  us.  She  has  33*10  metres  in  length  over  all, 
and  28*64  metres  on  the  keel,  with  an  extreme  beam 
of  7*20  metres. 

And  thus  we  conclude  our  survey  of  the  modern 
types  of  the  fore-and-aft  craft  as  witnessed  in  northern 
Europe.  But  we  will  end  as  we  began  this  volume, 
and  show  how  the  old  and  the  new  in  the  INIediterranean 
and  the  Nile  still  meet  after  the  intervention  of  centuries 
and  centuries. 

We  spoke  at  the  commencement  of  this  book  about 
the  lateen-sail  and  its  influence.  It  is  still  in  vogue 
in  the  Mediterranean,  on  the  Nile,  and  also  east  of 
Suez.  The  trading  craft  of  the  Egyptian  river  no  less 
than  the  dahabeiahs  for  royalty  or  for  carrying  the 
tourist  are  still  rigged  with  the  sail  of  history.  In 
the  illustration  (Fig.  125)  will  be  seen  this  rig  employed 
for  the  purpose  of  the  Khedive's  yacht.  The  small 
mast,  the  huge  yard  coming  almost  down  to  the  deck, 
the  hollowed  foot  of  the  sail,  the  high  peak,  and  so 
on — these  features  are  still  preserved  regardless  of  the 
many  species  of  fore-and-aft  rig  which  have  been 
evolved  by  the  north  of  Europe.  And  then  compare 
this  with  the  photograph  of  a  Spanish  fore-and-after 
which  is  here  shown  (Fig.  127).  This  represents  a 
Galician  sardine  boat  seen  in  Vigo  Bay.  You  re- 
member in  the  days  just  preceding  the  coming  of 
the  Armada,  when  Philip  was  amassing  considerable 
quantities  of  provisions  for  his  mighty  fleet,  that  Drake 
came  south  to  interrupt  these  great  preparations,  and 
captured  the  fishing  craft  and  nets  of  the  Spanish, 
thus  depriving  the  Armada,  among  other  details,  of 
the  fish  supplies  which  they  would  have  taken  on 
board  for  the  expedition,  had  it  been  attempted  that 
year.  Well,  the  rig  of  the  Spanish  fisherman  has 
altered   but  little   during    the   centuries  which    have 


IN    SOUTHERN    EUROrE  329 

elapsed.  Even  as  far  north  as  Galicia  the  influence 
of  Egypt  is  felt,  as  will  be  observed  from  this  lateen 
in  the  photograph. 

In  the  Marseilles  pilot-craft  (Figs.  129  and  130) 
the  lateen  is  still  retained  also,  even  with  the  addition 
of  a  foresail,  which  she  has  probably  acquired  from 
northern  Europe.  These  craft,  like  the  Yorkshire 
cobbles,  have  their  rudder  projecting  some  distance 
below  the  keel.  They  have  two  rigs  for  summer  and 
winter  respectively,  as  will  be  seen  from  the  dark  and 
the  dotted  lines  in  the  sail-plan  here  given.  The  winter 
rig  gives  a  sail-area  of  25*75  square  metres,  and  the 
summer  area  is  37 '45  square  metres.  A  shorter  mast 
is  also  used  for  the  winter  sail-plan,  and  the  lower  half 
of  the  yard  also  is  smaller.  And  notice  that,  as  in  the 
days  of  ancient  Greece  and  Rome,  the  yard  is  still 
made  in  two  pieces,  of  which  the  upper  half  is  called 
the  penne  and  the  lower  half  the  car.  Even  the  stem- 
head  shows  traces  of  the  beak,  as  seen  in  the  galley  of 
olden  times.  This  type  of  pilot-boat  is  certainly  a 
little  old-fashioned  now,  but  it  has  been  thought  well 
to  reproduce  it,  as  it  shows  more  clearly  the  real  con- 
nection between  the  things  of  the  present  and  those  of 
yesterday.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be  remembered 
that  such  craft  are  still  built  on  these  identical  lines. 
They  have  an  extreme  length  of  8  50  metres,  and  an 
extreme  beam  of  2*96  metres. 

And  so  we  bring  our  story  to  its  close.  What  we 
have  endeavoured  to  show  throughout  these  pages,  by 
letterpress  as  well  as  by  illustration,  has  been  the 
historical  connection  of  the  different  types  of  the  fore- 
and-aft  rig.  We  have  begun  at  the  beginning,  and 
have  tried  to  show,  step  by  step,  how  different  countries 
and  different  localities  in  those  countries  have  adapted 
this  rig  to  suit  their  own  requirements.  It  is  not  for 
every  ship  to  engage  in  trans-oceanic  voyaging.  The 
coaster,  the  fisherman,  the  pilot,  and  the  yacht  are  all 


BATEAU-PlLOTEde  MARSEUE 


Plan  dt   voiLure. 


Fig.  129.— Sail-plan  of  Marseilles  Pilot-Boat. 
The  black  lines  show  the  summer  rig  and  the  dotted  lines  the  winter  rig. 


1^^ 


332     THE   MODERN   FORE-AND-AFT   RIG 

entitled  to  their  existence,  and  to  develop  along  what- 
ever lines  may  be  found  best  suited  to  their  needs. 
They  have  found  that  the  square-sail,  for  the  reasons 
which  have  already  been  given,  was  not  altogether 
happy  for  their  requirements,  and  we  cannot  but 
admire  the  ingenious  manner  in  which  they  have 
adapted,  modified,  and  added  to  the  rig  that  originally 
came  to  them  from  the  south.  Perhaps  the  next 
time  we  put  to  sea  or  loaf  round  our  favourite  har- 
bour looking  at  some  poor  fisherman's  craft  we  shall 
feel  that  in  spite  of  her  lack  of  beauty  in  form,  her 
want  of  paint,  or  her  need  of  a  general  refit  altogether, 
she  is  something  more  than  what  she  looks — that  she  is 
one  of  a  long  line  of  interesting  personalities  which 
throughout  the  centuries  have  been  engaged  in  fishing 
and  fighting,  pirating  and  privateering,  or  whatever 
duty  she  may  have  been  summoned  to  perform  by  the 
call  of  the  sea. 

For  there  is  no  romance  like  the  real  romance  of 
history,  and  there  is  among  the  creations  of  man 
nothing  which  possesses  one  tithe  of  the  romance  that 
is  hidden  in  the  ship,  whether  large  or  small,  square  or 
fore-and-aft  rigged. 


GLOSSARY 

NOTE.— It  should  he  explained  that  the  following  is  in  no  sense  whatever  a 
complete  glossary,  but  is  merely  added  to  make  the  meaning  clearer  of  certain 
Nautical  terms  not  always  familiar  to  the  general  reader. 

Apple-Stern. — A  name  given  to  such  a  shaped  end  as  is  found  in  the 
case  of  many  of  the  Dutch  sailing  vessels  of  to-day  and  yester- 
day, with  their  rounded  buttocks. 

Balance-Lug. — The  balance-lug  has  both  boom  and  yard.  The  tack 
is  fixed  to  the  forward  end  of  the  boom  and  made  taut.  As 
distinct  from  a  dipping-lug,  the  balance-lugsail  is  not  dipped  at 
each  tack. 

Barren-Yard. — The  French  in  the  eighteenth  century  were  wont  to 
speak  of  the  cro'-jack  or  cross-jack  yard  as  the  barren-yard  or 
vergue  sec,  because  in  those  days  no  sail  was  set  on  that  yard  of 
a  full-rigged  ship.  Similarly,  fore-and-aft  craft  of  that  period 
carried  a  yard  on  which  no  sail  was  set. 

Bilge. — The  broadest  part  of  a  ship's  bottom. 

BoBSTAY. — The  stay  which  is  employed  for  keeping  the  bowsprit 
down  to  counteract  the  upward  tendency. 

Bollard. — A  strong  post  used  for  the  purpose  of  making  fast  a  rope. 

Bonnet. — A  strip  of  canvas  which  is  laced  along  the  foot  of  the  sail 
to  give  greater  area,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  the  Lowestoft 
drifters  and  the  Norfolk  wherries. 

Bowlines. — Ropes  fastened  to  the  luff  of  a  square-sail  for  the  pur- 
pose of  keeping  the  weather-edge  of  the  sail  tight  forward  and 
steady  when  the  vessel  is  close-hauled. 

Braces. — These  are  ropes  employed  for  the  purpose  of  controlling 
the  yards  of  square-sails,  and  are  made  fast  to  the  extremities  of 
the  yards. 

Brails. — Ropes  which  are  used  for  shortening  a  vessel's  canvas  by 
gathering  it  up  to  the  mast,  as  in  the  case  of  the  Dutchmen  of 
yesterday  and  the  English  barges  of  to-day. 

333 


334  GLOSSARY 

"  Break  out  the  Hook." — An   expression   to  denote  the  breaking 

out  of  the  anchor  from  the  ground. 
Bumpkin. — A  small  strong  boom  for  the  lead  of  the  mizzen-sheet ; 
also  a  kind  of  small  bowsprit  placed  at  the  bows,  usually  made 
of  iron,  but  sometimes  of  wood,  for  extending  the  foot  of  the 
foresail. 

Chain-Plates, — These  are  plates  of  iron  bolted  to  the  ship's  side 
beneath  the  channel  (which  is  a  platform  bolted  to  the  outside 
of  the  vessel  to  receive  the  dead-eyes  for  setting  up  the  rigging). 
The  dead-eyes  or  rigging  screws  are  made  fast  either  to  the 
chain-plates  by  means  of  links  led  up  through  the  channels, 
or  else  secured  direct  to  the  channels  themselves. 

Cleat. — A  piece  of  wood  so  fashioned  as  to  be  convenient  for  making 
fast  ropes. 

Clinker-Built. — The  manner  of  building  a  vessel  so  that  the  planks 
overlap  each  other ;  the  exact  opposite  of  carvel-built. 

"Cock-a-Billed." — The  expression  is  used  when  speaking  of  an  anchor 
that  is  suspended  perpendicularly  from  the  cat-head  ready  to  be 
let  go  at  once.  The  expression  is  also  used  in  reference  to  the 
yard  of  a  ship's  square-sail  when,  the  sail  having  been  stowed,  the 
yard  is  hauled  more  or  less  perpendicularly  parallel  with  the 
mast. 

Cringle. — A  small  hole  formed  on  the  bolt-rope  of  a  sail  with  a 
brass  or  iron  ring  or  thimble  placed  therein. 

Drift. — The  distance  which  a  vessel  is  carried  from  her  course.  It 
is  also  used  in  this  book  metaphorically  in  speaking  of  the  space 
between  the  mast  and  luflF  of  the  mainsail. 

Eyes. — The  eyes  of  a  ship  are  those  parts  which  are  in  the  extreme 
forward  end  of  the  vessel. 

Fiddle-Block. — So  called  from  its  similarity  in  shape  to  a  violin. 

Forefoot. — The  foremost  part  of  a  vessel's  keel. 

Forestav. — The  stay  on  which  the  foresail  is  set.  This  stay  is  for 
the  support  of  the  mast  forward. 

Freeboard. — The  amount  of  a  ship's  hull  which  is  between  the 
water-line  and  the  gunwale. 

Gaff. — The  spar  along  which  the  head  or  upper  part  of  a  fore-and- 
aft  rectangular  sail  is  laced. 

Goose-Neck. — A  piece  of  bent  iron  or  other  metal  fitted  to  the  end  of 
a  boom  so  as  to  allow  the  spar  to  move  easily  and  yet  be  secured 


GLOSSARY  335 

to  the  mast,  as,  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  a  spinnaker  boom 
goose-neck. 

Gripe. — A  vessel  is  said  to  gripe  when  she  carries  too  much  weather 
helm ;  that  is  to  say,  she  has  too  great  a  tendency  to  run  up 
into  the  wind. 

Guys. — Ropes  used  for  the  purpose  of  steadying  a  spar. 

Gybe. — When  the  wind  changes  from  one  quarter  to  another,  the 
vessel  running  free,  the  mainsail  of  a  cutter  will  swing  over  to 
the  other  side,  and  so  be  said  to  gybe. 

Halyard. — The  rope  by  which  a  sail  is  hoisted. 

Horse. — An  iron  or  wooden  bar  along  which  the  sheet  of  the  sail  can 
travel,  as  for  instance,  in  the  case  of  a  Thames  barge.  The 
latter  has  a  horse  placed  forward  to  allow  the  staysail  sheet 
to  travel  thereon. 

Leech. — The  vertical  edges  of  a  sail. 

Leeboard. — (For  origin  see  text).  Leeboards  are  specially  shaped 
"  boards "  or  wings  placed  on  either  side  of  a  sailing  craft  to 
diminish  her  leeway  or  drift  to  leeward. 

Luff. — The  forward  edge  of  a  sail.  In  the  case  of  a  cutter's  main- 
sail, for  instance,  it  is  that  edge  which  is  next  to  and  parallel 
with  the  mast. 

LuGSAiL. — A  quadrilateral  sail  bent  on  a  yard  which  hangs  obliquely 
to  the  mast  at  one-third  of  its  length  forward  of  the  mast.  In 
the  case  of  the  dipping-lug  the  sail  has  to  be  dipped  at  each 
tack  and  hoisted  afresh,  so  as  always  to  be  on  the  lee  side.  In 
the  case  of  both  the  standing-lug  and  the  balance-lug  no  dipping 
is  necessary. 

MizzEN. — As  applied  to  a  mast,  the  word  signifies  the  aftermost  mast 
of  a  ketch  or  yawl,  whereas  in  the  case  of  a  schooner  the  after- 
most mast  is  called  the  mainmast  and  the  other  the  foremast. 
As  applied  to  a  sail,  the  mizzen  is  that  sail  which  is  set  on  the 
mizzen-mast. 

Peak. — The   upper,  aftermost  comer  of  a  fore-and-aft  rectangular 
sail. 

Quant. — A  pole  employed  both  in  Holland  and  the  waterways  of 
Norfolk  and  Suffolk  for  the  purpose  of  propelling  a  craft  in 
calms  and  light  airs. 

Rake. — The  inclination  from  the  perpendicular,  as,  for  instance,  in 
the  case  of  a  mast. 


336  GLOSSARY 

Reach. — When  a  vessel  is  sailing  moderately  close-hauled  for  a 
certain  mark,  she  is  said  to  be  reaching. 

Rubbing-Strake. — An  extra  stout  piece  of  planking  placed  along 
both  sides  of  the  hull  so  as  to  prevent  damage  to  the  latter 
when  coming  alongside  a  quay  or  other  vessel. 

Runner. — The  tackle  which  is  employed  for  tightening  the  back- 
stays which  give  additional  support  to  the  mast. 

Shackle. — Pieces  of  iron  of  more  or  less  semi-circular  shape,  with 
a  pin  to  screw  therein.  They  are  employed  for  numerous  pur- 
poses on  a  ship,  as,  for  instance,  to  attach  the  staysail  to  the 
forestay. 

Sheer. — The  curve  in  a  vessel's  side  longitudinally  from  bow  to  stern. 

Spinnaker. — An  extra,  large  triangular  sail,  set  on  fore-and-aft  vessels 
when  the  wind  is  free  in  light  weather. 

Spreaders. — These  may  be  of  wood  or  of  iron,  and  are  used  for  the 
purpose  of  extending  a  stay  at  an  angle,  and  so  enabling  it 
to  have  greater  power. 

Spritsail. — The  sprit  of  a  fore-and-aft  vessel  is  employed  for  the 
purpose  of  peaking  the  sail  when  there  is  neither  gaff  nor  boom. 
The  sprit  extends  diagonally  from  forward  to  aft.  The  mainsail 
of  a  Thames  or  Medway  barge,  for  instance,  is  a  spritsail. 

Stays. — Rope  or  wire  employed  for  the  support  of  mast  or  bow- 
sprit. 

SxAYSAiL. — Any  sail  which  is  hoisted  on  a  stay.  In  the  case  of  fore- 
and-afters  the  word  is  usually  employed  when  referring  to  the 
foresail. 

Steeving. — The  angle  which  a  ship's  bowsprit  makes  with  the  hull. 

Storm- Jib. — The  smallest  sized  jib  of  extra  stout  canvas  for  use  in 
bad  weather. 

Stunsails,  or  more  properly  Studding-Sails. — These  were  extra  sails 
which  were  set  in  moderate  and  steady  breezes  when  running. 
They  were  run  out  beyond  the  yardarms,  but  are  nowadays 
obsolete. 

Tabernacle. — An  arrangement  fitted  for  the  reception  of  the  mast  in 
such  a  manner  that  the  mast  can  be  lowered  and  raised  for  going 
under  bridges. 

Throat. — The  name  given  to  that  part  of  a  gaff  which  is  next  to  the 
mast.  Whereas  the  peak  is  the  after  end  of  the  gaff,  the  throat 
is  the  forward  end. 


GLOSSARY  337 

Topping-Lift. — A  rope  used  for  the  support  of  the  boom  of  a  sail 
when  the  latter  has  been  stowed. 

Transom-Sterned. — A  transom-sterned  craft  is  one  whose  stern  ends 
abruptly  with  a  bulkhead  placed  across  the  stern-post. 

Traveller. — A  ring  employed  for  the  purpose  of  travelling  up  and 
down  a  mast,  or  along  a  horse.  In  the  case  of  a  lugsail,  for 
instance,  the  halyard  is  attached  to  the  ring,  and  the  latter 
hooks  on  to  the  yard.  Thus  the  halyard  may  be  hoisted,  but 
the  ring  still  keeps  the  halyard  close  to  the  mast. 

Trysail. — A  small  sail  which  a  fore-and-after  sets  abaft  the  mast  in 
the  time  of  bad  weather.  It  may  be  set  on  a  small  gaff,  or  may 
dispense  with  the  latter  and  be  of  a  triangular  shape. 

Tumble-Home. — That  part  of  a  shijj's  side  which  "tumbles  home,"  or 
falls  inward  above  the  extreme  breadth  so  as  to  make  the  vessel 
of  less  beam  than  on  her  lower-deck. 

Una-Rig. — (See  text).  This  rig  consists  of  one  sail,  viz.  the  usual 
gaff-and-boom  mainsail  of  a  cutter.  As  there  are  no  headsails 
this  sail  is  placed  as  far  forward  as  possible  in  the  boat. 

Vangs. — These  are  ropes  leading  down  from  the  peak  of  a  sail  to  the 
deck.  They  are  especially  noticeable  in  the  old-fashioned 
Dutch  craft  and  the  present-day  Thames  and  Medway  barges. 

Water-Sail. — A  square-sail  on  a  yard  and  slung  below  the  bowsprit. 
This  sail  is  now  obsolete,  but,  under  the  name  of  "Jimmy 
Green,"  it  was  in  vogue  on  full-rigged  ships  during  the  early 
part  of  the  nineteenth  century. 


INDEX 


Abrahams,  Jan,  33 

Admiralty  Dutch  yacht,  lines  of,  105 

yachts,  Dutch,  101 

Adriatic,  craft  of  the,  38 

Advys-jaght  or  despatch-boats,  100 

Alarm,  the,  133,  205 

Aline,  the,  210 

Alpha,  the,  247 

America,  the  Dutch  in,  19 

Avierica,  the,  174,  209 

America  Cup,  the,  140,  204 

American  yachting,  259 

Amstel,  the,  60 

Amsterdam,  20 

Amunsden,  Capt.,  205,  284 

Ann  Sarah,  the,  174 

Anne,  the  Duke  of  York's  yacht,  135 

cost  of  building  the,  144 

Archer,  Colin,  284 

Architectura  navalis  mercatoria,  113 

Arentzen,  Arent,  73 

Arrow,  the,  205 

Askgard,  the,  286 

Atalanta,  the,  174,  197 

Auxiliary  motor  fishing-boat,  282 

B 

Badiley,  Capt.  William,  144 

"Badminton"  yachting  volumes,  171 

Bakhuyzen,  56,  90 

Balance-lug,  the,  30 

Ballast  in  Norwegian  craft,  287 

of  the  Seal,  270 

of  the  racing  yacht,  257 


Ballast  of  pilot-cutter,  246 

of  shot  and  stone,  205 

of  the  yacht  Alary,  135 

Baltic  influence,  277 

Baltimore  clippers,  203 

Barentsz,  William,  64 

Barge,  Thames,  230 

Barren-yard,  the.  111 

Batten,  Sir  W.,  158 

Bawley  rig,  the,  94 

Bawley,  the  Thames,  230 

Belanders,  72 

Belgian  lugger,  the,  310 

Bellevois,  Jacob,  artist,  53 

Benthall,  E.  H.,  212 

Bergen-op-Zoom,  defeat  of  the  Span- 
iards at,  62 

Bermuda  rig,  the,  79 

"  Beurtman"  or  freight-carrier,  114 

Bezan,  the,  137 

dimensions  of  the,  141 

Pepys  and  the,  148 

Billingsgate  oyster  boats,  175 

Billy-boy,  the  modern,  167 

Bisquines,  320 

Blake,  Admiral,  52 

Blankenberg  luggers,  225 

Bloodhound,  the,  211 

Blue  Dragon,  the,  214 

Boier,  the,  102 

yacht,  the,  301 

Boijman's  museum,  33,  77,  92,  110, 
201 

"  Bolte-sprit,"  the,  63 

Bomb-ketch,  the,  107 

Bonetta  sloop,  dimensions  of,  143 


340 


INDEX 


Bonington,  168 

Bonnets,  55 

Bosham,  tombstone  at,  191 

"  Boskoop  boot,"  a,  292 

Boulogne  herring-drifter,  the,  315 

Bow-sprit,  dangers  of  the,  83 

the,  99 

Bowlines,  225,  278 
Bragozzi,  the,  38 
Breton  sailors,  324 

sardine  boats,  324 

Brighton  hoggies,  222 
Bristol  Channel,  the,  242 
Britannia,  the,  253 
British  Mariner's  Vocabulary,  defini- 
tion of  a  schooner,  203 
British  Museum,  the,  126 
Brixham,  238 

Brocksprit  or  bowsprit,  201 
Brooking,  168 
Buckie  boats,  240 
Bulwarks,  high,  289 
Bureau  Veritas,  the,  258 
Burlings,  the,  37 
Busses,  seventeenth-century,  162 
Buss-ship,  sixteenth- century,  52 
influence  of  the  English,  162 


C 

Calais,  20 

«  Calais  Pier,"  Turner's,  179 
Camper  and  Nicholson,  258 
Cat-boat  type  of  craft,  261 
Catherine,  the,  143 
Centreboard,  the,  73 

American  preference  for  the,  260 

craft,  craze  for,  210 

sloop,  the,  259 

Chafing,  damage  caused  by,  28 
"Chaloep"  or  "boot,"  the,  68 
Channel  Isles,  Charles  II.  sailing  in 

the,  132 
Chapman,  Frederick  Hennik  Af.,  113 


Charles  I.  the  Sovereign  of  the  seas,  52 
Charles  II.  at  Breda,  128 

in  the  Channel  Isles,  132 

his  knowledge  of  naval  matters, 

142 
Charlotte,  the,  143 
Cherub  III.,  274 
Childers,  Erskine,  286 
Children's  Friend,  the,  241 
Chinese  junks,  40 

trawlers,  40 

Chioggia,  craft  of,  39 

Clark,  Capt.,  History  of  Yachting,  129 

Classes,  258 

Clayton,  Harold,  247 

Cleaveland,  the,  143 

Cobble,  the,  226 

Cockpit  of  pilot-cutter,  245 

Codes   of    signals    for    yacht    clubs, 

173,  195 
Columbia,  the,  260 
Constable,  168 
Constitution,  the,  260 
Cooke,  E.  W.,  108,  166, 168,  175, 191, 

204,  235 
Coquette,  the,  208 
Cork  yachts,  170 

yachts,  rig  of  the,  172 

club,  194 

Cornish  luggers,  240 

Corsair,  the,  214 

Counter  stern,  the,  168 

Cowes  Yacht  Club,  194 

Creole,  the,  214 

Cruisers,  264 

Cumberland  Fleet,  the,  173,  194 

Cutter,  origin  of  the  modern,  96 

Cutter-rig,  93 

for  yachts,  197 

Cutters  as  yachts,  178 

D 

Dagomar,  the,  174 

Dahabia,  the  mainyard  of  a,  31 


INDEX 


341 


Daniell,  William,  196 

Dardanelles,  the  coaster  of  the,  39 

Dead-eyes,  the,  118 

Deal  lugger,  the,  236 

Deane,  Sir  Anthony,  97 

Defender,  the,  260 

Delfshaveii,  61 

Deptford,  the  yacht  Mary  at,  134 

Devon  seamen,  239 

Dhow,  the,  31 

Bktionnaire  (h  Marine  of  1736,  99 

Dimensions  of  the  Britannia,  254 

of  Cherub  III.,  274 

of  Norma,  274 

of  the  Satanita,  255 

of  the  Seal,  270 

of  Sheila  II.,  272 

Dinghy  of  the  Seal,  271 

shipping  a,  244 

Dipping-lng,  the,  56 
Dordrecht  Museum,  the,  75,  201 
Dordtsche  Kil,  the,  129 
"  Double-ended  "  craft,  268 
Dulwich  Gallery,  the,  172 
Dunkirk,  the,  147 
Dunkirk  sloop,  143 

fishing-ketch,  312 

Dutch  boier,  the,  301 

hotter,  the,  295 

eighteenth-century     yacht,     a, 

169 

East  India  Company,  the,  133 

as  explorers,  the,  64 

expeditions  of  discovery,  65 

galleot,  107 

hoogarts,  298 

in  the  East,  40 

klipper,  the,  293 

influence  in  America,  190 

marine  painters,  89 

naval  architecture,  87 

Navy,  the,  101 

painters    of    the     seventeenth 

century,  53 


Dutch  Revenue-cutter,  183 

sailor-man,  the,  21 

schokker,  the,  297 

sloepe,  the,  189 

"schuyt,"a,  175 

state  yachts,  100 

Una-rig,  305 

War,  causes  of  the  first,  52 

Dutchman's  love  of  the  sea,  the,  122 


E 

Egeria,  the,  210 

Egyptian  boats,  the  square-sail  of,  28 

Elandts,  the  artist,  50 

Emhlem,  the,  241  - 

Enkhuizen  "  beurtman,''  an,  114 

Ensign  staff,  the  curved,  84 

Equihen,  fishing-craft  of,  320 

Evelyn's  description  of  a  yacht-race, 

139 
Experiment,  the,  153 


F 

Faith,  the,  247 
Falconer's  Dictionary,  180 

definition  of  a  yacht,  188 

Fannes  or  Vanes,  163 

Felucca,  the  Spanish,  41 

Fend-off s  on  Dutch  craft,  170 

Ferrers,  Lord,  179 

Fife  of  Fairlie,  267 

Fifie  boats,  240 

Fishing-boats    and    yachts,    mutual 

influence  of,  216 
Fishing-pink,  a  three-masted,  103 
Fishing-smack,    the    origin    of    the, 

20 
Flushing,  20 

defeat  of  the  Spaniards  at,  62 

pilots,  304 

Flute  or  pink,  53 
Fly,  the,  185 


342 


INDEX 


Foreign  influences  in  English  ship- 
building, 136 
Forty-tonners,  famous,  211 
Foxhound,  the,  211 
Fram,  the,  284,  290 
Fubhs,  the,  143 
dimensions  of  the,  146 

G 

Gaflf,  the,  79 

origin  of  the,  96 

Galleass,  the,  35 

Galleot,  Dutch,  107 

Galleots,  143,  279 

Galley,  the,  32 

Galleys  of  Venice,  the,  46 

Gallic  naval  design  and  construction, 

200 
German  sport,  British   influence  on, 

258 
Germania,  the,  259 
Germanischere  Lloyd,  258 
Gilded   leather    for    King    Charles's 

yachts,  144 
Gjoa,  the,  205 
Gladys,  the,  252 
Gloucester,    the    birthplace    of    the 

schooner,  202 
"  Goared  "  sails,  110 
Gouda,  125 
Goulding,  John,  captain  of  the  Mary, 

140 
Government     cutters     and     private 

yachts,  199 
Grace,  the,  245 
Grand  Banks,  the,  326 
Gravelines  lugger,  a,  312 
Great  Fire,  influence  of,  on  sport,  159 
Greenwich  Royal  Observatory,  found- 
ing of,  142 
Greyhound,  the,  143 
Guest,     Montague,    history    of     the 

Royal  Yacht  Squadron,  195 
Guns  on  yachts,  105 


H 

Hatch-boat,  the,  175 

Henrietta,  the,  143,  147 

Henry  VIIL,  57 

Herreshoff,  263 

Herring-buss,  the,  50 

Herring-drifters  of  the  Low  Coun- 
tries, 49 

Herring  industry,  the,  52 

Historical  documents  concerning  the 
king's  yachts,  145-146 

History  of  Yachting,  Captain  Clark's, 
129,  154 

"  Hoeker,"  sails  of  the,  164 

Hoggies,  222 

Hollandsch  Diep,  unpleasant  con- 
ditions in,  60,  104,  130 

Hooy-schip,  the,  126 

"  Horse,  the  breaking  of  the,"  192 

Hoy,  the,  190 


India,  the  Dutch  in,  19 

Ireland,  yachting  in,  159 

Isabella,  the,  143 

Isle  of  Wight,  dimensions  of  the,  142 

Itchen  Ferry  craft,  268 


Jamaie,  dimensions  of  the,  141 
Java,  the  Dutch  in,  19 
Javanese  vessel,  sails  of  a,  30 
Jenny,  Charles  II.'s  yacht,  135 
Jullanar,  the,  211 


K 


Katherine,  Queen,  a  yacht  owner,  158 
Katwijk  Pom,  a,  308 


INDEX 


343 


Kensington  Palace,  sea-pieces  in,  168 

Ketch  rig,  the,  109 

King^s  Fisher,  the,  173 

Kitchen,  the, 

"  Knock-toes,"  237 

Kof-tjalk,  the.  111 

Kola  in  Lapland,  67 

Kromhout  motors,  114 

"  Kub-boot,"  the,  303 


Lacing  and  hoops,  74 

Lateen  rig,  the,  32 

sail,  the,  31,  95 

and  square-sail,  48 

Lead  sheathing,  148,  153 

Leeboards,  71 

Leslie's  Old  Sea  Wings,  Ways,  and 
Words,  47,  181 

Lifeboat,  Norwegian  and  English, 
285 

Life-lines,  169 

Linschoten,  Jan  Huygen  von,  64 

Lloyd's,  258 

Loch  Fyne  skiffs,  226 

"  Loodsloep,"  a,  304 

Lowestoft  drifter,  the,  55 

Lowestoft  harbour,  229 

Lug-sail,  the,  39,  40,  50,  162 

Lugger,  evolution  of  the  three- 
masted,  161 

Lugger,  speed  of  the,  162 

Luggers  and  galleys,  57 


M 

Maas,  the,  19 

Mahommedan  galleys,  40 

Mainsail     of     seventeenth  -  century 

busses,  162 
Manwayring,  177 
Maria,  centre-board  sloop,  208 


Marine  painting,  88 

Market- barge,  the,  81 

Marseilles  fishing-boat,  33 

Marshall,  C.  D.,  267 

Mary,  the,  England's  first  yacht,  22, 

63,  133 
Mary,  dimensions  and  rigging  of  the, 

137 
3Iary  II.,  22,  134,  143 

dimensions  of,  155 

Mast  and  Sail,  W.  Smyth's,  122 
Masts  of  Dutch  yachts,  100 
Maud,  the,  266 
Mauritshuis   at  the  Hague,  the,  55, 

85,  105 
Measurement  rules,  213 
Measurement   and   rating   of   racing 

craft,   international   rule   for    the, 

257 
Mediterranean  galleys,  57 
Mediterranean,  rigging  on  the,  31 
Medway  barge,  dimensions  of^  233 
Merlin,  the,  143 
Meteor,  263 

Middle  Ages,  rigging  of  the,  31 
Middleburg,  the  abbey  at,  62 
Minion,  dimensions  of  the,  143 
Monamy,  Peter,  168,  172 
Monmouth,  the,  143 
Moore's     Midshipman's     or     British 

Mariner's  Voc(i.hulary,  188 
Mosquito,  the,  208 
Motor  auxiliary,  the,  46 

pilot-ketches,  250 

power,  251 

Mule,  the,  228 

Muletta,  the,  33,  36 

"  Mumble  bees,"  238 

Municipal  Museum  at  the  Hague,  50 


N 


Nabbies,  225 
Nasehy,  the,  132 


344 


INDEX 


National  Gallery,  the,  110 

Naidical  Almanac,  founding  of   the, 

142 
Nautical  nomenclature,   carelessness 

in,  67 
Navahoe,  the,  254 
Naval  architecture  during  Charles  II., 

142 

designs,  improvement  in,  186 

manoeuvres   by   Dutch    yachts, 

101 

Naval  Architecture,  Stalkartt's,  185 
Navigation  difficulties  in  Holland,  80 

impulse  to,  142 

Navy,  the,  143 

dimensions  of  the,  146 

Navy  lists,  yachts  numbered  in  the, 

143 
Nellie  Jane,  the,  241 
Netherlands,  the,  the  "  waggoners  of 

the  sea,"  19 
New  York  Yacht  Club,  the,  260 
Newhaven,  20 
Niole,  the,  214 
Norma,  the,  274 
North-east  Passage,  the,  64 
North-west  Passage,  discovery  of  the, 

205 
Norwegian  "jaegt,"  the,  277 

pilot  craft,  290 

sailing  lifeboat,  284 

Nova  Zembla,  discovery  of,  65 
Nugger,  sail -plan  of  Egyptian,  29 
Nyria,  the,  258 


0 


Oars  of  the  "  mule,"  228 

Oimara,  the,  210 

Old  Sea    Wings,   Ways,   and    Wards, 

Leslie's,  47,  181 
Orange,  the  Prince  of,  and  Charles  II., 

129 


Ostend,  20 
Outlook,  the,  260 


Paid  hand,  the,  266 
"  Patron  "  or  master,  55 
Paviljoen-pom,  the,  117 
Pearl,  the,  205 
Penzance  drifters,  241 
Pepys,  97 

extract  from  his  Diary,  134 

love  of  yachting,  148-153 

Peter-boat,  the,  175 

Pett,  commissioner,  134 

Pilot- boat,  the  origin  of  the,  20 

Pilot-cutters,  Bristol  Channel,  242 

Pink,  rig  of  the,  94 

Pinks,  143 

Plague,  influence  of,  on  sport,  159 

Plymouth  hooker,  240 

"Pom"  or  "Bom,"  the,  119 

Pompe,  Gerrit,  110 

Poole  fishing-cutters,  178 

Poop-deck,  the,  169 

Popham,  Sir  Home,  195 

Portsmouth  barges,  235 

Portsmouth,  the,  143 

rigging  of  the,  157 

Portsmouth  wherry,  the,  60 
Portuguese  muletta,  the,  36 
Prichett,  R.  T.,  171 
Prince  of  Orange,  the,  117 
Prince  Royal,  the,  151 
Pumps  on  Dutch  boats,  99 

Q 

Queen  Mab,  the,  214,  255 
Queenborough,  the,  142 

R 

Racing  yacht,  the,  256 
Ram,  survival  of  the,  37 


INDEX 


345 


Ramsgate,  20 

Ramsgate  harbour,  229 

Rat  o'  IViijht,  Queen  Elizabeth's 
pleasure  ship,  97 

Rating,  214 

"  Redningskoite,"  the,  285 

Reefing-gear,  243 

Regattas  on  the  Thames,  173 

Reliance,  the,  260 

Renaissance,  influence  of  the,  47 

Revenue  cruiser,  the,  179  ;  dimen- 
sions, 181 

Richmond,  Duke  of,  a  yacht-owner, 
158 

Riddle  of  the  Sands,  the,  286 

Rijks  Museum,  the,  57,  59,  69,  98, 
105,  114,  117,  119,  130,  301 

Rigging  at  the  beginning  of  the  nine- 
teenth-century, 174 

of   Billingsgate    oyster-boats, 

175 

of  Charles  II.'s  yacht,  129 

of  the  cutter,  180 

of  Dutch  Revenue-cutter,  183 

of  the  hatch-boat,  177 

oi  Mary  II.,  156 

of  the  Poi'tsTnouth,  157 

of  Thames  barges,  235 

Rig  of  the  Cork  yachts,  172 
Royal  Charles,  the,  132 
Royal  Cork  Yacht  Club,  159 

Eastern  Yacht  Club,  207 

Harwich  Yacht  Club,  207 

Mersey  Yacht  Club,  207 

Northern  Yacht  Club,  207 

St.  George's  Yacht  Club,  207 

Southern  Yacht  Club,  207 

Thames  Yacht  Club,  the,  173, 

207 

Victoria  Yacht  Club,  207 

Western  Yacht  Club,  207 

Yacht  Club,  the,  195 

Yacht  Squadron,  207 

Rudder,  the,  125 


Rudder,  hatchet-shaped,  109 
Ruskin  and  Dutch  marine  painters, 

90 
Russell,  Scott,  208 
Ruysdall,  110 


S 


Saenredam,  Johannes,  70 

Saevareid,  the,  252 

St.  Helens,  the,  250 

St.  Malo  barquentines,  326 

St.  Malo,  fishing  craft  of  the  Bay  of, 

320 
Sail  area  of  the  Britannia,  254 

of  Cherub  III.,  274 

of  Norma,  274 

of  the  Seal,  270 

of  Sheila  II.,  272 

Sail  areas,  increasing,  197 
Sail-plan  of  fishing  smack,  191 

of  the  "  redningskoite,"  287 

Sailmakers  and  designers,  influence  of 

the  America  on,  210 
Sailing  Sliips  and  their  Story,  17,  285 
Sails,  cotton  and  silk,  214 
Sails  of  the  "  hoeker,"  164 

of  the  Mary,  the,  135 

Sails,  striped,  169 
Satanita,  the,  254 
Scandinavians,  influence   of  the,  42, 

44,  277 
Scarborough  ketch,  229 
Schank's  sliding  keel,  185 
Scheldt  and  Thames,  232 
Scheldt,  the,  19,  20,  48,  73 
Scheveningen,  Charles  II.  at,  132 

Church,  painting  in,  50 

pink,  the,  306 

Schooner,  the,  75  ;  development,  81, 

199 
Scotch  fishing  craft,  224 
Scotch  smack,  190 


346 


INDEX 


Seal,  the,  268 

"  Semaque,"  the,  124 

Semelle  de  derive,  or  leeboard,  71 

Serres,  168 

Shamrock,  the,  133 

Shamrock  IV.,  264 

Sheila  II.,  271 

Shipbuilding  industry,  the,  193 

Skaffies,  226 

Skiffs,  225 

"  Skimming  dishes,"  257 

Slocum,  Captain,  204 

Sloepe,   or  sloop,   the,  67,  201,  204, 

304 
Sloop  in  America,  the,  189 
Sloop,  Falconer's  definition  of  a,  187 
Sloop,    how   the    word    is    used    in 

America,  68 
Smack,  Falconer's  definition  of  a,  190 

origin  of  the,  124 

"  Smal-schip,"  the,  124 
Smuggling,  178 

Smyth's,  W.,  Mast  and  Sail,  122 
Solebay,  the  battle  of,  155 
Sole7it,  the,  250 

barges,  236 

"  South  Sea,"  shallow  water  of  the, 

115 
Southampton  water,  20 
Sovereign  of  the  Seas,  the,  149 
Spanish  felucca,  the,  41 

fishing  craft,  36 

galleys  in  Holland,  70 

Spanker,  the,  41 
Spinnaker,  the,  214 

the  germ  of  the,  75 

/Spitzbergen,  discovery  of,  65 
Sprit-rig,  disadvantages  of,  94 
Spritsail  of  Holland,  the,  278 

in  Turkish  waters,  the,  39 

Square-rigged  ships,  23,  28 
Square-sail,  usefulness  of  the,  27,  111 

on  Chinese  junks,  the,  40 

Square-sails  disappearing,  198 


Stalkartt's  Naval  Architecture,  185 

Stanfield,  Clarkson,  168 

Steam  trawler,  the,  230 

Steers,  George,  208 

Stern-formation,  281 

Stern,  the  high,  in  Dutch  boats,  116 

loftiness  of  the,  168 

post,  the,  169 

windows,  109 

Sterns  of  Dutch  vessels,  the,  93,  97 

Storck,  Abraham,  55,  105 

Strijensas,  104 

Stumpy,  the,  234 

Sussex  luggers,  222 

Swiss  lakes,  the  lateen  rig  on,  32 


Tapestry  at  Middleburg,  62 
Tartana,  the  Mediterranean,  35 
Thames,  the,  temp.  Charles  II.,  149 

barge,  the,  230 

bawley,  the,  230 

measurement,  the,  213 

skiff,  the,  103 

yacht-racing  on  the,  173 

Theories  of  designers,  208 

Thistle,  the,  133,  212 

Thorne,  Robert,  map  by,  62 

Tiller,  the,  116 

Timber  for  King  Charles's  yachts,  144 

Tjalk,  the,  291 

Tonnage,  197 

Topsail,  the,  191 

schooner,  the,  27 

Trabaccolo,  the,  38 

Transom  stern,  the,  168 

Trawling  industry,  mulettas  in  the, 

37 
Trek-paard,  or  towing-horse,  98 
Trial,  the,  185 
Turner,  168 
Turner's  "Calais  Pier,"  179 


INDEX 


347 


Turner's  early  drawings,  63 
Two  Brothers,  the,  192 


U 


Una-rig,  tlie,  60 
Unio)i,  the,  204 


Valkyrie  L,  the,  254 
Valkyrie  II.,  the,  255 
Van  Beijeren,  Abraham  Hendricksz, 
92 

der  Capelle,  Jan,  110 

Goyen,  Jan  Josephsz,  85 

der  Velde,  56,  90,  154 

Vlooswyck  and  Charles  II.,  133 

Vendeenne  craft,  324 

Venice,  galleys  of,  46 

Verschuier,  Lieve,  130 

Vigilant,  the,  254,  260 

Vikings  of  the  North,  the,  31 

Vlie-boot,  the,  53 

Voyage  Round  Great  Britain,  A,  196 

W 

*•  Waggoners  of  the  sea,"  the,  19 
Walcheren,  the  island  of,  20,  59 
Westward,  the,  263 
White  Heather,  the,  133,  258 
White  Heather  II.,  258 
Willaerts,  Adam,  75,  201 
Willemstadt,  104 

Willoughby,  English  navigator,  65 
Windlass,  the,  116 
Winds  prevalent  in  Holland,  130 
"Water-sails,"  36,  63 
Water  Tower  Museum  at  Dordrecht, 
111 


Watson,  G.  L.,  211,254 
Wykeham-Martin  furling  gear,  the, 

267 
Wyoming,  the,  203 


Yacht,  the  origin  of  the,  20,  97 

origin  of  the  word,  98 

a  strange,  77 

of  Charles  II.,  129 

of  1815,  the,  189 

- — -  club   during  the  Victorian  era, 

207 
clubs   in  the   early    eighteenth 

century,  100 

clubs,  constitution  of,  171 

Falconer's  definition  of  a,  188 

Yacht-racing,  139 

Association,  the,  212 

on  the  Thames,  173 

Yachting,  22 

club,  the  first,  159 

Yachtin(j  Monthly,  the,  268 

Yacht's  boat,  the,  103 

Yachts,  development  in  size,  205 

for  pleasure  and  utility,  178 

in  warfare,  159 

Yarmouth  harbour,  229 

Yawl,  the,  199  * 

Yawl-rigged  barges,  235 

"  Yawls,"  double-ended,  278 


Zeebrugge,  20 

Zeland  and  Frisian  leeboards,  72 

Zuyder  Zee,  the,  19 

Zulus,  225 

Zwaard  or  leeboard,  71 


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Edinburgh  &'  London 


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